When she was ten, Chloe and the boy named Goh encountered some accidents during summer camp. If Ash had not gone to another camp organized by Professor Oak, perhaps the incident wouldn't have happened.
And the summer camp Ash attended also encountered some unexpected events.
At that time, the summer camp was held in the Kanto Region, but the participants were not only from Kanto, but from other regions as well.
They were brought by various regional professors and then entrusted to Professor Oak for supervision.
Among the group was a little girl with a sun hat and flaxen hair, who Ash initially didn't pay attention to. His heart was filled with longing and joy for the camp.
Girls were not worth mentioning; they couldn't catch his attention, no matter how pretty they were.
But when that pretty girl went missing, everything changed.
The camp allowed for free activity time, which was when Chloe and Goh had their incident, and the same happened with Ash.
During free time, they could play with and observe the Pokémon brought by Professor Oak, as those Pokémon were exceptionally gentle and couldn't possibly harm anyone.
So even children without Pokémon could safely enjoy interacting with them.
This was also to get them familiarized with interacting with Pokémon in advance.
However, when gathering, Professor Oak discovered that a little girl, and a Pokémon, were missing!
He certainly wouldn't think the little girl stole the Pokémon. Not only did she look timid, but there was no reason for such an act. Her family wasn't poor, and she could naturally receive one of the Three Starters from Kalos at fifteen.
Why would there be any need to steal a Poliwag? It was most likely that the girl and the Pokémon accidentally wandered into the forest while playing and got lost.
Professor Oak quickly instructed the children to stay put while he searched the forest. After all, taking the children with him would risk more going missing!
This forest might not be as sizable as the Viridian Forest, but it was still large enough that if someone ventured too far, a rescue team might be needed.
But after Professor Oak left, Ash couldn't sit still. As a child, he loved being in the spotlight, but he also knew the weight of things, and this was no time to show off.
What he should do most was to listen to Professor Oak and wait patiently for his return.
Yet, besides loving the spotlight, Ash was also kind-hearted. He couldn't just wait for Professor Oak to retrieve the missing Pokémon and girl—he wanted to help!
Even at ten, his strength was not inferior to that of an adult, even stronger in some respects! This was one of Ash's confidences.
So Ash quietly slipped away from the group into the forest, to search for the missing girl and Poliwag.
With his extraordinary intuition, Ash found Poliwag under a tree in the forest, but the girl's whereabouts still eluded him.
Until, while wandering, he faintly heard sobbing. Upon crossing a patch of grass, he came to an open space and saw the girl with the sun hat sitting on the ground, tears glistening in her large eyes.
"Hey! Are you okay?" Ash asked with concern, leading Poliwag to the girl.
"No... I'm fine. You... you are...?" The girl shrank back, timidly asking.
"I'm Ash, also part of the camp. You must be the missing girl, right? Professor Oak has been searching for you. Let's go back!" Ash said, reaching out to her. The girl hesitated but then extended her own small, dirty hand to his.
Ash pulled her up, and she let out a cry of pain.
"What's wrong?"
"My knee hit..."
Ash glanced at her knee; one had a scrape, and the other bore slight abrasions, likely from the fall or brushing against grass.
"It's nothing, just superficial wounds. A bit of ointment and you'll be fine. Poliwag, can you walk on your own?" Ash asked.
Poliwag nodded, hopping from Ash's arms to the ground, while Ash crouched and said without turning his head, "Come on, I'll carry you back."
"Ah?" The girl paused, surprised by Ash's decisiveness, before blushing brightly upon realizing his intent.
Though shy, she still moved slowly behind Ash and climbed onto his back.
"Am I heavy?" the girl's voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum.