Pokémon: The Path of Ascension

The Gray Feather Mountain Range is a mountain range located on the outskirts of Petalburg City in the Hoenn Region.

Unlike the Pokémon world that Toshi knew in his previous life, although it is still divided into regions such as Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and others, each region is larger than what he was familiar with in his past life.

In just the Hoenn Region where Toshi resides, there are over thirty cities with Gyms, not to mention the countless villages and towns without Gyms—there are at least hundreds of them—and the distances between the villages and towns are considerable. However, compared to the vast areas occupied by wild Pokémon, the regions with human activities might not even cover one-fifth of that.

The Gray Feather Mountain Range is where Toshi's dad was assigned to maintain after becoming a ranger, and it is also the place where Toshi was born.

Although as a transmigrator, he came to this world shortly before his original body turned eight and was about to attend Ranger Academy, 

he had already lived here for two years and had become quite familiar with this mountain range.

...

Around ten in the morning, having just finished exercising with his dad, Toshi, holding a large bag of prepared snacks, was about to step into the recently awakened mountain range.

Today was the day he had promised to play with Butterfree, and it was also the day he would soon say goodbye to Butterfree...

"Butterfree, Butterfree, I'm here, and I brought your favorite snacks!" Toshi shouted loudly.

Usually, Butterfree would be active in this area, so once he called out a few times, Butterfree would show up.

Today was no exception; as soon as he finished speaking, Butterfree flew down from a lush tree.

"Butterfree!" Butterfree showed a joyful expression, flying around Toshi as soon as it landed.

Toshi laughed, "Alright, Butterfree, I have some milk prepared just for you. Do you want to try it?"

Holding the bag upright, Butterfree slowly flew onto Toshi's arm, sniffing with its nose, and immediately, a rich aroma filled his nostrils.

"Butterfree..." Butterfree made a delightful sound.

"Come on, Butterfree, I'll open it up, and let's enjoy this delicious treat together." Toshi said with a smile.

"Butterfree!"

...

Two hours later, Butterfree and Toshi had long finished all the snacks, and now they were strolling leisurely around the area.

There were no Pokémon in sight, not for any particular reason, but simply because they were still on the outskirts of the Gray Feather Mountain Range. Normally, Pokémon lived deeper within the mountain range, and most Pokémon had their own gathering places, so they rarely ventured out.

Toshi's parents had never allowed him to enter the mountain range alone, which is why it was always Hideo who would take him in when he had the time. After all, Toshi aspired to become a ranger in the future, and Hideo wanted him to learn more about jungles and mountain ranges.

As he watched the sunlight filter down through the gaps in the leaves, Toshi called Butterfree to his side, his voice a bit serious: "Butterfree, starting tomorrow, I will be going to the academy, so we won't be able to see each other for a while."

"Butterfree…" Butterfree showed a disappointed expression, flying onto Toshi's shoulder and gently brushing its black-and-white wings against Toshi's cheek.

"That's so ticklish, Butterfree," Toshi couldn't help but laugh as he wiped his cheek.

Holding Butterfree in his hands, Toshi softly said, "This isn't our first separation, so there's no need to be so sad. Think about it—when the new year comes, I'll be back, right?"

"Butterfree…" Butterfree still wore a forlorn expression.

"Butterfree…"

Butterfree rubbed its cheek against Toshi's hand repeatedly.

Toshi understood what Butterfree wanted to say, what it meant, but he couldn't; he couldn't do it...

At least, not yet.

Butterfree was the first Pokémon he encountered after coming to this world, aside from his parents' Pokémon.

At that time, it was just a Caterpie, being chased by a group of Spearow. Toshi accidentally discovered it and called his dad over to successfully save it.

After saving it, it evolved from Caterpie to Metapod. His dad told him that it might have gone into Spearow's territory searching for food to store energy for evolution, which is why it immediately started evolving once it was safe.

This was also the first time Toshi had witnessed a Pokémon evolution after arriving in this world.

To ensure that Metapod could smoothly evolve into Butterfree, he took Butterfree out of the Gray Feather Mountain Range to where he currently was.

Since Metapod couldn't move easily, Toshi would come to check on it every day until the day before it was set to go to the academy, when Metapod successfully evolved into Butterfree.

Thus, he only had a brief meeting with Butterfree before leaving.

When he returned six months later from the academy, his dad told him that Butterfree had come to this spot almost every day to wait for him. At first, it would wait for half a day, but later it seemed to realize Toshi wasn't home, so it would only wait for about an hour before returning to the mountain range.

Upon hearing about Butterfree's actions, Toshi hurriedly came out to find it.

To be honest, he never imagined that Butterfree would think of him so often. This was the first time he felt the warmth of the Pokémon world in this reality.

And his bond with Butterfree deepened from that moment on…

In the beginning, he told his parents that he wanted Butterfree to be his Pokémon, but they both strongly opposed it.

They told Toshi that while Bug-type Pokémon had a short cultivation time, their peak combat power didn't last long. If he chose to cultivate Butterfree, he would have to start cultivating new Pokémon as soon as Butterfree's strength began to decline.

Moreover, after his dad's repeated checks, Butterfree's quality was only average. If it had been good, maybe they would have considered it, but since it was only average, they simply couldn't accept it.

This was a burden that a family like theirs could not afford.

No matter how many times Toshi pleaded, he still received a stern refusal from his parents.

So from that moment on, he understood that to gain his parents' approval, he would only have to really cultivate Butterfree after proving he had the ability to do so.

Moreover, this couldn't take too long because Bug-type Pokémon had a short optimal cultivation time. So Toshi set a small goal for himself.

That is, by graduation, he must grow to the point of being able to cultivate Butterfree.

...

It seemed that Butterfree sensed Toshi's thoughts as well; every time Toshi left, it would silently see him off from a distance before returning to the mountain range, waiting quietly for Toshi's return…

While Toshi felt comforted, there was also a deep sense of guilt buried within him…