Pokémon: Dreams Come True Starting in Sinnoh

Chapter 209 The Riverbank at the Breach, Team Rocket's Trio

"Ugh, so boring~~"

Ash was alone in the room with Pikachu. He lay on the bed, feeling utterly exhausted, and shouted this in frustration.

Because they arrived at the Pokémon Center early, there were many rooms available, so Ash and his two friends each chose a room to stay in. In the end, they didn't expect to have to stay there alone for so long.

It's such a rare afternoon, but it's a real shame that I can't train my Pokémon.

Ash thought to himself as he held Chimchar's Poké Ball in his hand.

Chimchar is just one step away from evolving, and you can see its determination to evolve quickly during training. However, it still falls a little short in regular training.

"Should we give Chimchar a more intense battle environment...?"

Ash was initially troubled by this, but he soon gave up thinking about it.

Evolution is inevitable anyway. Since Chimchar hasn't evolved yet, it means it probably feels it's lacking something. Let's observe it further in future training and battles.

After clearing his mind of unnecessary thoughts, Ash began training on his own.

Ash certainly understands just how useful the power of Aura is, so mastering it has become his top priority. After all, once he has mastered the power of Aura, he won't get lost anymore!

"boom--"

"Skin?"

At that moment, another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

Pikachu, who had been sleeping on the bed, suddenly raised its head, jumped to the window and looked into the distance, then called Ash over.

"Pikachu! Pikachu!"

"what happened?"

Ash's training was interrupted by Pikachu. Following Pikachu's gaze, Ash looked into the distance and saw that the place where the lightning had struck seemed to be a mountainous area ahead.

Ash didn't sense anything unusual, but seeing Pikachu's somewhat anxious look, he suddenly remembered something, stretched out his right hand towards Pikachu, and murmured:

"Waveguide, stay with me..."

Ash used his Aura to envelop himself and Pikachu. Although sweat beaded on his forehead, he managed to do something he hadn't been able to do before.

That is--

(A cry for help.)

"?"

Ash seemed to connect with Pikachu, and this word popped into his mind.

A cry for help?

Ash's gaze turned serious.

"Pikachu, you could hear someone calling for help from that far away?"

"Skin!"

Pikachu proudly puffed out its chest.

It was originally enjoying the sound of rain outside the window, trying to fall asleep with the help of the rain.

But at the moment when the sound of rain and thunder intersected, Pikachu wasn't sure if it was a cry for help, but at least the sound seemed urgent, so Pikachu subconsciously assumed that was what it thought.

"...I understand, then let's go take a look."

I'm bored anyway.

With that, Ash pulled a raincoat out of his backpack and then led Pikachu toward the spot where the lightning had struck.

.......

After being washed by the torrential rain, the once clean mountain path has become muddy, and walking here feels like you could slip and fall at any moment.

"Where did all this mud come from? Was it washed down...?"

The original stone path had become as rugged and difficult to walk as any other unpaved mountain road. Strolling on the stone path in the middle of the forest in such thunderstorm weather was hardly a reassuring experience.

"You really have to be careful not to let me get struck by lightning!"

Ash held onto the hood of his raincoat, which was flapping loudly in the wind, and emphasized this to Pikachu, who was hiding in his arms to avoid the rain.

"Pikachu!" (Leave it to me!)

Ash: "......"

Ash felt a strange unease looking at Pikachu, who didn't even stick its head out when answering him.

Oh well, at worst I'll just get chopped up. It's just a matter of sleeping for a day or two!

Xiao Zhi chuckled to himself.

.......

After walking for a while, the rain subsided a bit, and Pikachu was finally able to peek out a little to lead the way for Ash.

As Xiaozhi continued up the winding slope, he soon realized where the mud and water on the stone path came from.

"This is... a dam breach?"

The river on the slope was now swollen, with wave after wave of water rushing towards the lake below the cliff and the mountain roads on both sides.

The rushing river water, carrying countless pebbles, settled down and became the muddy path that Xiaozhi traversed on his journey.

This was the same road that Ash and his friends had walked that morning. Although he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings the whole time, Ash vaguely remembered that the upstream of the river should have been lined with stones to prevent the water from being too strong and causing adverse effects on the road and the downstream lake.

It seems that something went wrong upstream, causing the stones that controlled the water flow to disappear or be moved.

And then there's Pikachu saying someone is calling for help...

"Hurry up!"

"Skin!"

Ash and Pikachu ignored the muddy ground beneath their feet and quickened their pace, running upstream along the stone path.

After walking briskly for several tens of minutes, the two finally saw several stones with scorch marks left by lightning strikes on their surfaces. However, these were just rubble, not the massive boulders they had seen in the morning.

Walking from the stone path into the muddier mountain road, the two soon arrived at the edge of the riverbank. Just by looking up, they could see the completely out-of-control river surging downstream.

Near the pile of stones upstream, Ash could vaguely see several moving figures.

Ash wasn't unfamiliar with those figures, after all—

.......

"Ugh! This is never going to end! No matter how many stones we put on the ground, they'll all be washed away in a second! Seriously, this job isn't supposed to be done in a downpour, is it?"

Kojiro complained loudly with a frustrated expression, but he didn't stop working.

Upon hearing this, Meow Meow on the other side could only sigh helplessly.

"I have no choice, meow~ Although this job isn't what I should be doing right now, if I don't do it, Musashi will..."

"..."

Hearing what Meow Meow said, Kojiro's gaze drifted to the other side without him saying a word. Musashi, with a blank look in his eyes, continued to repeat the work at hand.

Normally, Musashi would have already started complaining—

'An actress's hair is her lifeline!'

In that case, they'll just refuse to work, right?

But this matter concerns the happiness of Musashi's Poisonous Butterfly, so she is silently going to fill the riverbed back in, right?

.......