After leaving the lively carnival in Leaf Forest, Ash and his companions arrived at a quiet little town famous for its traditional herbal medicine, Mossgreen Village.
They needed to restock on some essential medicine and food for their journey.
Meanwhile, the three members of Team Rocket who had been sneaking along behind them ran into a major problem.
For some reason, Meowth suddenly developed a high fever. His entire body felt weak, and he collapsed onto the ground, unable even to stand.
"Meow… I feel terrible, meow…" Meowth groaned weakly.
Jessie frowned and lightly kicked him with her foot. "Hey, Meowth, stop playing dead and get up!"
"Yeah, without you translating, it's really inconvenient for us to keep following those twerps," James added impatiently.
Seeing that his two companions actually seemed ready to abandon him, Meowth's eyes filled with despair and sadness.
At that moment, a gentle-looking girl carrying a basket of herbs happened to pass by and saw the scene. She immediately crouched down and began examining Meowth carefully, not minding that he was a "wild" Pokémon in her eyes.
"He has a high fever. He needs treatment immediately!" the girl said firmly.
Her name was Cassandra. Ignoring Jessie and James trying to stop her, though they were secretly relieved that someone else was taking over the trouble, she carefully picked Meowth up and hurried toward the town.
Cassandra brought Meowth back to the herbal medicine shop run by her family. Using her inherited knowledge of traditional herbal remedies, she patiently prepared medicine, placed cool cloths on his forehead, and took meticulous care of him.
A few hours later, Meowth's fever finally subsided, and he regained his strength.
Looking at Cassandra busy caring for him, and recalling the cold indifference of Jessie and James, Meowth felt a kind of warmth he had never experienced before.
"Miss Cassandra… thank you for saving meow… Meowth will definitely repay your kindness!" he said in human language.
Cassandra was stunned by the talking Pokémon.
At the same time, Ash and his friends happened to come to Cassandra's herbal shop to purchase supplies.
Just after they finished buying what they needed, they saw Cassandra coming out from the back room carrying the now-recovered Meowth.
When Meowth saw Ash and the others, he gave them a complicated look before quickly jumping down and running away. He planned to repay Cassandra in his own way and didn't want to interrupt her meeting with her "benefactors."
Of course, Ash had noticed Meowth, but he tactfully chose not to expose him. After all, everyone encounters difficulties sometimes.
After seeing Meowth off, Cassandra noticed Ash and his companions browsing the medicine in the shop. Seeing the Poké Balls on Ash and the Pikachu and other Pokémon accompanying him, she guessed that he was a traveling trainer.
She hesitated for a moment before gathering her courage and stepping forward.
"Excuse me, Mr. Trainer. I can see that you're a Pokémon Trainer. Would you mind helping me with something?"
Ash turned around and looked at the gentle girl with curiosity.
"Yes, I'm Ash, a Pokémon Trainer. What can I help you with?"
Cassandra explained that her partner Paras had already accumulated enough strength but had been unable to evolve into Parasect.
She had heard that Pokémon sometimes break through their evolutionary bottleneck during evenly matched battles. She hoped Ash could battle her and help Paras find the opportunity to evolve.
Ash looked at Cassandra's sincere eyes, then sensed the energy level of the Paras beside her. It had indeed reached the threshold of evolution, but compared with his main team, the strength gap was quite large.
"No problem, Miss Cassandra! Let's have a battle!" Ash agreed readily.
However, before the battle began, Ash quietly instructed his Pokémon.
"Listen carefully. The goal of this battle isn't to win, it's to help Paras evolve. So… act a little. Don't take it too seriously. Hold back a bit and lose to it at the end."
Thus began a battle that could only be described as an "Oscar-level" performance.
Ash first sent out Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur used Razor Leaf "weakly," which Paras "barely" dodged, before being "hit" by Paras's "fierce" scratch attack and staggering backward. Ash "reluctantly" recalled it.
Next was Squirtle.
Squirtle's Water Gun "accidentally" missed its target, and then Paras's mushroom spores made it "dizzy," causing Squirtle to spin around before falling into a water bucket by the side of the field and "unexpectedly" losing its ability to battle.
Even Pikachu stepped in.
It symbolically released a few small sparks of electricity before being "frightened" by Paras's Dig, somehow stepping on its own tail and tripping over itself.
Watching the obviously strange battle, Cassandra frowned slightly, sensing something was off. Paras also looked confused and did not feel the pressure or opportunity for evolution it should have.
Ash rubbed his forehead helplessly. It seemed Paras wasn't stupid either. It could clearly tell this was all an act.
Simply put, their acting was way too exaggerated.
Just then, it was time to eat. Ash was about to take out some Pokémon food when his Charmeleon and Cassandra's Paras simultaneously set their eyes on the largest energy cube.
The two Pokémon immediately started competing for the food.
At first, Charmeleon only intended to snatch it away. But when it saw the subtle signal Ash gave it, it immediately understood.
Pretending to engage in an intense "food battle" with Paras, the two pushed and shoved each other, refusing to give in.
Charmeleon "angrily" spat out small bursts of flame, while Paras fought back fiercely with its claws.
During the "fierce" struggle, Charmeleon seized the moment and pretended to take a solid hit from Paras's Cross Scissor to the chest. It let out a "painful cry," staggered backward a few steps, and "accidentally" dropped the energy cube.
Then it "weakly" dropped to one knee, panting heavily. Even the flame on its tail seemed to dim.
Its performance was incredibly realistic, worthy of an award-winning actor.
At the exact moment when Paras felt the peak of accomplishment and strength after "defeating" such a powerful opponent and successfully protecting its food, a brilliant light of evolution suddenly burst from its body.
Its form expanded within the light. The mushroom on its back grew rapidly, spreading to cover its entire shell, and its eyes took on a more predatory look.
Evolution.
Parasect.
"It worked! Paras evolved!" Cassandra excitedly hugged the newly evolved Parasect, tears of joy streaming down her face.
Looking at Ash and Charmeleon, her eyes were filled with endless gratitude.
She understood that the final "food battle" had been the most genuine opportunity for evolution that Charmeleon and its trainer had carefully created for her.
That night, to thank Ash for his selfless help, and Charmeleon's award-winning sacrifice performance, Cassandra prepared a lavish dinner to entertain Ash and his companions.
Late at night, when everything was quiet, she came alone to Ash's room and expressed her deepest gratitude in the gentle yet direct manner unique to an Eastern woman.
Moonlight filtered through the window lattice, illuminating the intertwined silhouettes in the room. The air was filled with the fragrance of herbal medicine and a hint of lingering warmth.
[Ding! The host successfully helped Cassandra's Paras evolve and gained Cassandra's deep gratitude and affection. Reward: 400 World Points.]
[Current World Points: 19,000.]
Carrying yet another unforgettable memory and a special "gift of thanks," Ash and his companions quietly left Mossgreen Village in the morning mist, continuing their journey toward the location of the next Gym.
Her looks were actually quite nice.
[Insert Image of Cassandra]
...
In the next chapter they'll encounter Jigglypuff.
Should he capture it right away, or let it train outside first and capture it later during the Johto arc?
One more thing, should Bulbasaur evolve?
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