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After successfully capturing Electivire, the three trainers resumed their journey and spent the next several days traveling through the wilderness areas between cities.
During this period, Ash continued his intensive Pokémon training regimen. According to what he knew about the upcoming gym challenge, he might not encounter the powerful Team Rocket leader Giovanni because of the Mewtwo incident that had occurred previously.
However, Ash still conducted strict and rigorous training with his Pokémon team, keeping in mind the possibility that he might still face Giovanni at some point in the future.
Now that Venusaur had completed its evolution, the most important priority was to consolidate and master its newfound strength. There was no immediate need to spend excessive time learning completely new moves when it could focus on perfecting its current abilities.
Squirtle was also one of the main team members for the upcoming gym battle. The disappointing loss at Cinnabar Gym had motivated Squirtle to train even harder than before, pushing itself to improve.
The Water-type Pokémon was continuously working to increase the power and accuracy of its special moves to make up for what it lacked in raw level and experience compared to stronger opponents.
Pidgeotto had recently mastered the powerful Brave Bird attack, and its offensive capabilities were now completely sufficient for most battles. However, Pidgeotto's defensive abilities and sustained combat endurance still needed significant improvement.
The problem was that after learning Brave Bird, this powerful move caused recoil damage to the user, which would quickly drain Pidgeotto's stamina during extended battles.
So the next training goal that Ash had decided for Pidgeotto was to learn the move Roost. Brave Bird was a high-risk, high-reward move that caused self-inflicted damage, while Roost was a Flying-type move that could restore the user's health and stamina, which would greatly improve Pidgeotto's battle endurance.
As for Scyther, it wouldn't be the most suitable choice for the upcoming gym challenge. Even if Ash didn't encounter Giovanni, the Viridian Gym was still known primarily for Ground-type Pokémon.
If Scyther could evolve into Scizor before the gym battle, it would become a major offensive force. But at its current stage as a Scyther, it would indeed struggle significantly against Ground-type opponents.
Although Scyther could fly and technically wasn't affected by Ground-type moves, Ground-type and Rock-type Pokémon were basically part of the same family. Most Ground-type Pokémon knew at least one or two Rock-type attacks in their movesets.
Both Bug-type and Flying-type Pokémon were weak to Rock-type moves. This double weakness would put Scyther at a severe disadvantage in battle. At present, Scyther wasn't as reliable as Charizard for this particular matchup.
However, Ash was still working hard to improve Scyther's fighting techniques. To increase its attack power significantly, Ash planned to teach it the move Swords Dance.
Swords Dance was a status move that could dramatically boost a Pokémon's attack power. Unlike in video games, in the real world, this move had many additional tactical applications that could be used creatively.
As for Charizard, it had already mastered most of the Fire-type moves that would be useful in battle. However, its moveset of other types was limited—aside from Thunder Punch and Seismic Toss, Charizard's coverage wasn't very comprehensive.
Against Ground-type Pokémon, Thunder Punch would be basically useless due to type immunity. Seismic Toss required getting close enough to grab the opponent, which wasn't an easy technique to execute successfully against every opponent.
Therefore, Ash wanted to continue expanding Charizard's versatility in battle. After thinking carefully for a long time, he felt that Dragon-type moves would be the most suitable addition to its repertoire.
Although Charizard wasn't actually a Dragon-type Pokémon, it could still learn and master Dragon-type techniques. Dragon-type moves had a special characteristic—while their base power might not always be the strongest, they could guarantee at least normal effectiveness against most Pokémon types.
This meant that even against Pokémon like Rock-types and Ground-types, which were known for their high defensive capabilities, Dragon-type moves could still deal decent damage.
Additionally, Dragon-type moves were relatively easy for Charizard to learn and practice. So to start with, Ash decided to have Charizard attempt to master Dragon Claw first.
Besides its Electric-type moves, Pikachu also had Iron Tail and Surf in its arsenal. These two attacks would also be effective against Ground-type Pokémon, giving Ash multiple options in battle.
Over the past few days, all of Ash's Pokémon could sense that their trainer was preparing seriously for the next gym challenge. Because of this, every single Pokémon was training with complete dedication and focus.
Misty had also been influenced by Ash's infectious enthusiasm and determination. During this time, she had been training alongside Ash, focusing primarily on working with her Psyduck. Ever since the Princess Festival incident, she had made a firm resolution to become a better trainer.
Although Psyduck still annoyed her to no end from time to time with its absent-minded behavior, Misty had become much more patient with it than before.
Brock, meanwhile, took care of all the logistical responsibilities with complete satisfaction. He felt genuinely happy when he saw Ash and Misty looking content and energized after eating the delicious meals he prepared for them following their exhausting training sessions with their Pokémon.
"Misty! Come and eat!" Brock called out cheerfully.
By noon, after training intensively all morning, Brock had finished preparing lunch and was ready to serve everyone. Ash had already allowed his Pokémon to take a well-deserved rest and was sitting at their makeshift table, but he hadn't started eating yet as he waited for Misty.
"Just wait a minute!" Normally, Misty would be the first person to sit down eagerly when training was finished and food was ready. But this time, she didn't come over to join them.
From the sound of her voice, she seemed to be in a troubled mood. Ash and Brock exchanged concerned glances and walked over to see what was wrong.
Next to their camping area was a rocky mountain wall. Natural spring water flowed out from cracks in the rock face, and over time, the constant flow had formed a clear, shallow pool on the ground below.
Because it was pure mountain spring water, the water in the pool was crystal clear and refreshing. When the group had first spotted this natural spring, they had immediately decided to set up camp here.
At this moment, Misty's Horsea was swimming in the spring water, but the small Sea Horse Pokémon appeared to be in poor spirits. It gave the impression of having no energy or enthusiasm at all.
"Horsea doesn't look energetic at all. What's going on with it?" Misty asked with genuine concern as she watched her Pokémon in the water.
It was because of Horsea's condition that she had completely lost her appetite for lunch.
"Maybe it's been too long since it's had the chance to swim in a large, open body of water," Ash observed thoughtfully after taking a closer look at the Water-type Pokémon.
Although Horsea was relatively small compared to other Water-types, it was still a sea-dwelling Pokémon by nature. Most Water-type Pokémon were like this—they occasionally needed to be in a much wider, more spacious aquatic environment to truly relax and feel comfortable.
After all, Pokémon like Horsea were different from Squirtle, which didn't have to worry about being out of water for extended periods of time.
"It really does look like that's the problem! But we're quite far from the ocean right now," Brock said with understanding.
As an experienced Pokémon Breeder, Brock was very knowledgeable about Pokémon habits and behaviors. He nodded in agreement with Ash's assessment, but he seemed a bit concerned about finding a solution.
"There's no need to go all the way to the sea. If we can find a bigger body of water somewhere, that should work just fine," Ash suggested after thinking for a moment.
"That's it! Wait, I have an idea! How about we go to Cerulean City? It just so happens that I haven't been back home for a long time!" Misty said, suddenly standing up with excitement as a solution occurred to her.
The aquarium at the Cerulean Gym was definitely large enough for Horsea to swim comfortably, and it was specifically designed and built according to Water-type Pokémon habitat needs. Horsea would definitely be able to adapt well to that environment.
"That's actually a great idea! Cerulean City is very close to Celadon City, and I heard that Celadon City just built and opened a new express train line not too long ago that connects directly to Cerulean City!" Brock said enthusiastically, clapping his hands together.
When he had been reading through travel guides recently, he had seen information about this new transportation option. The last time they had visited Celadon City, the train station hadn't been operational yet!