Pokémon: The Path of Ascension

"Rustle...!"

Toshi tilted his head: "What sound is that?"

"Butterfree…"

He stood up and said, "Butterfree, let's go see what it is."

Before he could get up, a gray figure suddenly darted out from the woods.

Toshi focused his gaze.

"It's a Poochyena!" he said, puzzled. "What is a Poochyena doing here?"

However, Toshi knew that Pokémon like Poochyena usually traveled in packs and were not easy to deal with. So, when he spotted it, his first thought was to leave quickly.

Fortunately, Poochyena didn't seem to notice him; it hurriedly dashed out from a patch of grass and ran off into the distance.

"That Poochyena seems a bit off, like something is chasing it?"

As Toshi watched Poochyena gradually disappear from view, he felt something was not right: "Could something have happened in the mountain range?"

"Butterfree, we need to go quickly; there might be danger." Toshi told Butterfree anxiously beside him.

"Butterfree!"

As he took a step forward, Toshi noticed Butterfree wasn't following him, so he turned back and asked, "Butterfree, what's wrong?"

Before Butterfree could respond, a loud cry reached Toshi's ears.

"Pinsir!"

"What was that?!" Toshi's pupils dilated: "Pinsir! An advanced-level Pinsir!" (Advanced: level 40-49)

"Butterfree, run!" he quickly turned back, wanting to tell Butterfree to escape. Although he didn't know why there was a Pinsir here, it was better to escape than to think about it, especially since Pinsir was known as one of the most brutal and troublesome Pokémon in the wild.

"But fortunately, typical Pinsir doesn't have long-range attack moves, so as long as I quickly create distance, it should be fine." Toshi felt flustered but managed to stay calm, recalling what he learned about Pinsir.

At that moment, Toshi finally understood why the earlier Poochyena ran so fast; the Bug-type Pinsir was naturally a counter to the Dark-type Poochyena, and combined with its high strength, how could it not flee?

"Butterfree!" When Butterfree heard Toshi's words, it still didn't run, because just then, the Pinsir that had appeared in front of Toshi was gathering rocks above its head.

"Stone Edge!" Toshi's mouth dropped open in disbelief.

Stone Edge is a ranged attack move that only a very few Pinsir can learn; he never expected to encounter one!

"Butterfree, dodge!" Toshi shouted anxiously.

However, Butterfree still ignored Toshi, instead releasing a Confusion that directly faced Pinsir's Stone Edge!

But a Butterfree at basic strength couldn't possibly withstand the attack from a high-level Pinsir.

Toshi watched as Butterfree's Confusion was instantly shattered by Pinsir's Stone Edge, and then it struck Butterfree directly.

"Butterfree!" Butterfree cried out in pain as it fell from the sky.

"Butterfree!"

Toshi rushed forward to catch Butterfree as it fell and then ran away without looking back. At that moment, Butterfree had already lost its ability to battle and had passed out.

Toshi knew that the only way to win against this Pinsir now was to run to a place where his parents could hear him and call for help, so that his parents' Pokémon could come to his aid!

The Pinsir that had just defeated Butterfree roared, seemingly becoming even more ferocious.

"Hidden Ability Moxie?!" Toshi felt the aura approaching him from behind, his face turning pale.

At that moment, Pinsir seemed to go wild, quickly charging toward Toshi.

Poor Toshi was running, but how could he match the speed of a flying Pinsir? The distance between him and Pinsir was already less than ten meters, and the distance he had just managed to create was about to be closed in on easily by Pinsir.

At this moment, Toshi finally understood why Butterfree hadn't run at first but had decided to take the hit.

It was to buy him time to escape!

"Butterfree, you can't be hurt!" Toshi thought anxiously, fearing he would be caught by Pinsir and also worried that Butterfree would leave him.

"Oh no, Pinsir is going to catch up!" Toshi panicked, but even with all his strength, he couldn't match Pinsir's speed.

Glancing back, Toshi saw that Pinsir was gathering Stone Edge again!

"Am I really going to die here?" Toshi felt a sense of despair.

At that moment of crisis, a familiar voice called out from the right, "Toshi!"

It was Toshi's dad!

In this moment of crisis, Hideo flew out from the woods and shouted, "Rapidash, Flamethrower!"

As soon as Hideo issued the command, the Rapidash racing beneath him concentrated fire-type energy in its mouth, and then a thick flame shot directly at Pinsir.

A high-level Pinsir was no match for an elite-level Rapidash, especially since it was weak to its fire-type attacks!

Feeling the pressure radiating from Rapidash, Pinsir's previously arrogant demeanor quickly deflated. After hastily exchanging a few blows, it immediately turned and fled.

Seeing that Pinsir finally ran away, Toshi let out a sigh of relief but soon began to worry about Butterfree's condition. He quickly exclaimed, "Dad, please check on Butterfree! It got hit directly by Pinsir's Stone Edge while protecting me!"

Hideo understood the bond between his son and Butterfree. He hurriedly took Butterfree from Toshi's hands and, after examining it, said to Toshi, "Fortunately, the force of Stone Edge wasn't enough; otherwise, Butterfree could have been in danger."

After Hideo administered emergency treatment to Butterfree, it finally woke up.

"Toshi, I have a limited supply of potions right now, so I can only provide emergency treatment. To fully heal, we need to go home."

"Right, Dad is right. Let's hurry home," Toshi said, holding the just-awakened Butterfree with concern.

Hideo didn't waste any more time. "Rapidash!"

Rapidash responded with a call and then crouched down for them.

Toshi and Hideo quickly hopped on Rapidash and made their way home.

...

After Hideo's treatment, Butterfree finally appeared to be okay.

"Toshi, if Butterfree gets a good day's rest, it should be fine," Hideo said to Toshi.

"Thank you, Dad."

"Don't rush to thank me," Hideo said with a serious expression. "I need to talk to you. Is everything you learned at the academy just for show? The moment you saw Butterfree seriously injured, you didn't know what to do?"

Hearing his dad's scolding, Toshi quickly lowered his head, "I'm sorry, Dad. I acted impulsively."