"We said we'd help, but how are we supposed to find the lost Pokémon in such a big place?"
After arriving at the forest that the researchers had mentioned, Dawn began to regret agreeing to their request so easily.
"There's nothing we can do, we'll just have to search slowly. Logically speaking, they should be nearby and haven't gone far." Brock also frowned. Although he was comforting Dawn on the surface, Brock himself was doubtful about whether they could find the lost Pokémon in such a large forest.
"It's okay." Ash said, "Didn't the researchers say that the Staraptor and Staravia are very well-behaved? The reason they ran away was just because they were startled, right? As long as they calm down, they should come back on their own, right? The problem is with the remaining Piplup and Chimchar."
Compared to the flying Staraptor and Staravia, the state of Piplup and Chimchar was obviously more dangerous. It was said that the depths of the forest were the territory of Ariados. Although the deterrent power and destructiveness of Ariados groups in the wild were much worse than those of Beedrill and others, they still weren't something that rookie Pokémon like Piplup and Chimchar could handle if they were surrounded.
If you simply look at it from this perspective, the current situation is actually quite critical.
After hearing Ash's reasoning, Dawn and Brock nodded one after another. It was indeed as Ash said, Flying-type Pokémon wouldn't get lost in this forest. The only possibility that they would get lost was that they didn't want to come back.
But after ruling out the only possibility, their goal was actually only Chimchar and Piplup. As long as they found these two Pokémon, their mission could be successfully completed, but the problem lies in...
"A fork in the road..."
Arriving at a fork in the road, there were two paths in front of them.
"What should we do? Should we choose one to go on? Or...."
"In this situation, we definitely need to split up to act." Ash decided immediately.
Based on past experience, if everyone took the same path, the only ending waiting for them would be getting lost. Whether it was to avoid the possibility of getting lost or to expand the search area, splitting up was the best choice.
"Yeah, I agree too." Brock, who also had a lot of experience getting lost, of course understood that Ash's proposal was correct. After considering the three people's situations, Brock said, "Then I'll take the path on the right by myself, and Ash and Dawn, you guys take the left."
Ash's combat power was the strongest among them, and Dawn still didn't have a Pokémon on hand, so letting the two of them go together was the safest measure. Even an excellent Pokémon trainer must maintain the most basic sense of awe when facing this kind of unknown forest. Otherwise, when the forest gives you a loud slap in a way you can't imagine, it will be too late to think about being careful and in awe by that point.
After a simple grouping, the three began to carefully grope into the interior of the forest.
"Ugh... I'm so unlucky. I didn't expect to encounter so much trouble on the first day of the trip. Did I not choose the best time to go out and travel?"
Dawn, who was closely following behind Ash, still couldn't help but complain in a low voice. Before coming here, she never thought that she would just be receiving her starter Pokémon and it would become so complicated and difficult. If she wasn't with Ash, she wouldn't be able to do anything even if she came here by herself.
"Think positively, it's still better than my situation back then, isn't it? What's more, no one knows if this is a bad thing for you. Although it looks pretty unlucky on the surface, there might be some opportunities hidden inside?"
The reason why Ash said this wasn't just because he had heard about what happened today from Dawn's mouth before. It was mainly because Ash himself had been walking this way all along. The more troublesome and dangerous the place, the more opportunities there were. He and many Legendary Pokémon basically met and became connected under such circumstances.
"I hope that's the case."
Dawn still could only take Ash's words as a simple encouragement. Her bad luck today had already made her lose confidence to continue saying her catchphrase. Right now, she just wanted to find the lost Pokémon as soon as possible and go back.
Ash saw Dawn's thoughts, but ultimately didn't say anything more. Some things can only be truly felt after experiencing them firsthand.
...
...
It had been almost 20 minutes since the two of them entered the forest. Although the area of the forest did seem quite large at first glance, this forest could only be called a small forest in terms of depth. It wouldn't take too long to walk to the end.
"The fog is so thick..."
Dawn, who was following behind Ash, began to feel nervous. Unknowingly, she had tightly grabbed Ash's clothes. Even the optimistic and cheerful her found it difficult not to be afraid in such an environment.
This was a forest, which was already a dangerous place. When there was no fog, she could still rely on her eyes to observe the surrounding situation, but now, under such thick fog, her visibility was only three or four meters. The tension and fear of the unknown quickly swallowed her up.
"Is there a relatively large lake nearby... otherwise, this place shouldn't have formed such a thick fog."
"A lake..." Under Ash's reminder, Dawn also seemed to remember something and quickly replied, "Now that you mention it... we should already be near Lake Acuity, one of the three major lakes in the Sinnoh region."
The largest and only lake in this forest was Lake Acuity, which was located in the center of the forest.
But Dawn never thought that they were already near Lake Acuity. If they continued to walk forward, they would deviate from Sandgem Town....
Just as Dawn was worried about this, Pikachu, who was walking in front, gently flicked its ears twice and reached out to stop Ash and Dawn, who were planning to continue moving forward.
"Pika~pika~!"
Pikachu's tone was full of seriousness. Just as Dawn was planning to ask Pikachu what it had discovered, the surrounding fog seemed to start swaying from side to side and dissipating a lot, just as she had wished. It was precisely because the fog dissipated that the figures of the predators who had surrounded Dawn and the others in the center were revealed.
"Ariados?! And so many..."
In just a moment of dissipation, Dawn had already spotted no less than ten Ariados in her vision. In this tense situation, Dawn's body couldn't help but move closer to Ash.
....