Deep within the National Park's forest, Ash found himself facing a troublesome situation.
A large swarm of wild Beedrill had completely surrounded him and Pikachu, their buzzing wings echoing through the woods.
"Looks like Lady Luck is really smiling on us today," Ash said with a smile to Pikachu on his shoulder.
Since he had already planned to catch a Beedrill, he immediately set his sights on the strongest one in the swarm.
"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock on that Beedrill leader!" Ash decisively ordered.
The golden electricity struck its target perfectly. After being hit, the Beedrill leader let out a unique buzzing cry, and the entire swarm immediately halted their attack.
Ash seized the opportunity and quickly threw a Park Ball.
After several shakes, the ball finally stopped.
He had successfully captured the leader of the Beedrill colony.
"Great!" Ash breathed a sigh of relief and carefully stored the Poké Ball containing his new partner.
As they continued onward, they suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out.
Following the sound, they discovered Casey directing her Chikorita in a difficult battle against three Scyther.
"Use the fastest and strongest Fastball strategy! Razor Leaf!" Casey shouted using her characteristic baseball terminology.
Unfortunately, Grass-type moves had little effect on Scyther and only succeeded in provoking them further.
Seeing Chikorita being steadily overwhelmed by the Scythers' Fury Cutter attacks, Ash stepped in without hesitation.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
The electrical blast forced the Scyther back, and Ash quickly ran over to check Chikorita's condition.
"You've made it fight continuously for too long," Ash said sternly to Casey. "A trainer must know how to judge their Pokémon's condition."
Only then did Casey realize that Chikorita was already completely exhausted. Filled with guilt, she tightly hugged her partner.
When the Bug-Catching Contest ended, Ash won first place thanks to capturing the Beedrill leader.
He received the Sun Stone as his prize.
Although Casey regained her spirits afterward and managed to catch a Beedrill herself, it was nowhere near comparable to Ash's.
On the road leaving Goldenrod City, Misty was still marveling at their latest stroke of luck.
"Ash, your luck is unbelievable! You even managed to get such a rare Pokémon at the Game Corner?"
Playing with the Poké Ball in his hand, even Ash found it hard to believe.
"Honestly, I only wanted to relax at the Game Corner. I never expected something like this to happen."
It all began earlier that morning.
According to their original plan, they were supposed to head directly to Ecruteak City. However, while passing by the Goldenrod Game Corner, Ash suddenly stopped.
"You two can go look around nearby first," Ash said to his companions. "I'll just take a quick look inside."
Misty and Brock exchanged smiles. They knew Ash's gaming spirit had been awakened again.
They still remembered what happened at Celadon City's Game Corner in Kanto, where Ash had displayed incredible skill, helped Professor Akihabara solve a computer system crisis, and even escaped from the virtual world together with Team Rocket.
"Just don't overdo it," Misty reminded him.
Entering the Game Corner, Ash headed straight for the slot machine area.
He had been quite skilled at these kinds of games in his previous life, and in this world, he was no less impressive. After inserting three coins, he gently pressed the start button.
When three identical golden symbols appeared on the screen, celebratory music echoed throughout the entire Game Corner.
"Congratulations!" The manager personally came over to offer his congratulations. "You are this week's first jackpot winner. Would you like to continue challenging your luck, or quit while you're ahead?"
"I think I'll stop here for today," Ash replied with a smile.
The manager handed him a heavy money pouch along with an exquisitely wrapped gift box.
"This is your prize money, along with a special gift. Please make sure to keep the box safe."
When Misty saw that there was only an ordinary Poké Ball inside, she could not help feeling disappointed.
"It's just a Poké Ball."
However, Ash immediately sensed that this Poké Ball was anything but ordinary.
When he pressed the release button, a flash of white light appeared, and standing before them was the incredibly rare Porygon.
"Poryi~"
Porygon let out its unique electronic cry while curiously observing its new surroundings.
Ash crouched down and gently extended his hand.
"Porygon, let's get along from now on."
Porygon lightly touched Ash's hand with its polygon-shaped "palm," expressing its acceptance.
"Unbelievable!" Brock exclaimed. "Porygon is an extremely rare artificial Pokémon. To obtain one like this..."
Ash carefully examined Porygon. Through his Aura abilities, he could sense that it possessed unusually strong self-awareness and exceptional learning capabilities.
Considering that his team was already full and that Porygon attracted too much attention, he decided to send it back to Professor Oak's laboratory for the time being.
After transferring Porygon away, the trio finally set off toward Ecruteak City.
The setting sun stretched their shadows across the road, and Ash glanced back at the gradually receding Goldenrod City.
This trip to Goldenrod had yielded an incredible harvest.
He had obtained the Plain Badge, captured Beedrill, won a Sun Stone, and now had unexpectedly acquired a Porygon as well.
But he knew that Ecruteak City would bring entirely new challenges.
"I've heard Ecruteak City has a long history and rich culture," Brock said while flipping through a travel guide. "It's famous for the Bell Tower and the Burned Tower. They say both are connected to the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh and Lugia."
Ash nodded, anticipation shining in his eyes.
Every journey marked the beginning of a new adventure, and Ecruteak City would undoubtedly add another exciting chapter to their travels.
A/N: As a side note, the original anime had an episode where Ash and his friends entered a virtual world. It was supposed to take place after the Ditto episode, but for some unknown reason it was never aired. Here, I simply borrowed that setting to explain the event.
I only discovered this unaired episode much later myself, so don't pay too much attention to it, everyone!
T/N: From Wiki:
(Japanese: でんのうせんしポリゴン Computer Warrior Porygon, commonly Electric Soldier Porygon) is the 38th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on December 16, 1997. The episode is infamous for resulting in many viewers suffering adverse health effects, including epileptic seizures, vomiting, irritated eyes, and other related symptoms, due to use of a flashing strobe effect upon its first and only airing. Because of that, this episode was never commercially released or re-broadcast anywhere in the world, and the show went on hiatus for four months.
The frames which caused the seizures are a four-second section in which Pikachu uses an Electric attack on a group of vaccine missiles. The explosion—which occupies a significant portion of the frame—flashes brightly and alternates rapidly between red and blue. The seizures caused by this episode resulted in OLM dropping strobe effects from Pikachu's electric attacks. For years following the incident, a disclaimer was broadcast at the beginning of all Japanese television shows, cautioning viewers not to sit too close to the television screen and to watch only in a brightly-lit room.
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