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"I'm here—ow, that hurts! When did this hole appear?"
Ash and Brock heard Misty's voice and rushed toward her. In his haste, Brock didn't watch where he was going.
"Misty, are you all right? Whoa!!"
Without paying attention to the path ahead, Brock stepped onto unstable ground and tumbled forward. When Ash saw what was happening, he tried to grab him but couldn't reach in time. All he could do was watch helplessly as Brock rolled down the hillside.
Ash stopped at the edge of the slope and looked down. He realized it wasn't just a simple pit—it was an endless ravine cutting through the mountain, about three or four meters wide.
The drop was roughly three or four meters down the hillside. After seeing both Misty and Brock fall, Ash carefully slid down after them.
"Are you two okay?"
Ash reached the bottom and hurried over to check on them.
The height wasn't too dangerous, and the slope had cushioned their fall, so neither of them was seriously hurt. Ash extended his hand and helped Misty to her feet.
"I'm fine. Togepi, are you okay?"
"Togi togi pri~~!"
When Misty had fallen, she'd kept Togepi clutched safely in her arms, so the Pokémon was completely unharmed and still smiling cheerfully. Brock stood up as well, brushing dirt from his clothes.
"What's going on here? I don't remember seeing this path before!"
Misty finally got a good look at their surroundings and realized they were standing in a ditch that resembled some kind of passage.
"This isn't a path," Ash said plainly.
The ditch showed numerous friction marks along its walls, along with scattered rocks and debris. The soil on the ground looked fresh—it had obviously been disturbed recently.
"Not a path?" Misty turned to look at him in surprise.
That made sense, though. This entire area was completely natural and undeveloped. The only paths that existed were those formed over long periods of time by people traveling through repeatedly.
This passage looked like it had been forcefully carved out. It definitely didn't look like a normal road. Brock examined the surroundings with a frown.
"It looks like something large passed through here!" Brock observed after a closer inspection.
"All right, let's climb back up," Ash said to the others, Pikachu perched on his shoulder.
He started climbing first, and Misty and Brock followed his lead. Brock moved relatively quickly, but Misty could only hold Togepi with one hand while reaching upward with the other.
Seeing her struggle, Ash turned around and reached down to pull Misty up. Just as she was about to reach the top, suddenly...
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
A powerful tremor shook the ground beneath them. Standing on the slope, Misty's body swayed dangerously and she nearly lost her balance. Fortunately, Ash was holding onto her, or she would have fallen back down.
"What's happening?" Misty asked, feeling the intense vibrations.
"Something's coming!" Brock felt the strong tremors all around them. He looked down the length of the passage and spotted a massive shadow gradually approaching.
As he focused on the figure, he quickly recognized what it was. The shape was very familiar to him.
"That's—an Onix?!"
Brock stared at the figure rushing up from below. It was definitely an Onix, but even though he recognized the species, Brock's face showed absolute shock.
As the figure rapidly approached, he could see that this Onix's body was enormous—larger than almost any he'd seen in his entire life.
The average adult Onix measured about eight meters long, reaching nine meters when well-developed. His own Onix was still in its growth stage and currently stood at around seven meters.
But the Onix charging toward them was at least thirteen meters long by visual estimation. It was an absolute giant. Compared to this massive Rock Snake Pokémon, his own Onix and even Ash's Gyarados would look like children.
"An Onix??" Misty echoed in equal surprise, glancing over her shoulder.
The moment she laid eyes on it, her fear intensified and she nearly lost her grip.
"Hurry up!" Ash urged. Misty nodded quickly and grabbed Ash's hand, climbing up as fast as she could.
However, in Misty's panicked scramble upward, Togepi—still bouncing around in her arms as if nothing was wrong—began to slip. Misty only had one hand holding the small Pokémon.
As she climbed, the ground continued shaking violently. Togepi bounced free from Misty's weakened grip, tumbled through the air, and landed on the ground. Its round, egg-like body immediately rolled back down into the passage.
"No! Togepi!!"
"Pika!!"
Misty's eyes widened in horror. Pikachu, perched on Ash's shoulder, was equally alarmed. Without hesitation, Pikachu leaped from Ash's shoulder and jumped back down into the passage to grab Togepi.
At that moment, the Onix had already closed the distance. Pikachu had just managed to scoop up Togepi in its arms, but with the Onix's enormous size, anything on either side of the passage would be crushed—let alone anything in the middle of it.
Neither Ash's position nor Misty's was truly safe, and Pikachu and Togepi's location in the center of the passage was even more dangerous. There was no time left to dodge.
Seeing what was happening, Misty instinctively released Ash's hand and tried to go down to save them. When Ash saw this, his eyes sharpened. Instead of letting go, he tightened his grip and pulled Misty up with all his strength, then pushed her to safety.
Then he slid back down, grabbed both Pikachu and Togepi, crouched low on the ground, and looked up at the approaching Onix. In comparison to the massive Rock Snake Pokémon, he, Pikachu, and Togepi looked like tiny insects.
"Ash!!!"
Misty screamed in panic when she saw what he'd done. Guilt overwhelmed her—this was all because she hadn't held onto Togepi properly. She tried to move forward but Brock caught her.
Though he was equally worried about Ash, Brock couldn't let Misty throw herself into danger as well.
Ash held Pikachu and Togepi close, crouching on the ground as he looked up at the Onix. Their eyes met.
The Onix's eyes revealed intense anxiety and unease. A cross-shaped scar ran from its right eye across the bridge of its nose, making its appearance even more intimidating.
As the Onix charged forward, Ash's eyes darkened. He pulled Pikachu and Togepi tighter against his chest. In that critical moment, something changed in Ash—though he himself wasn't consciously aware of it.
A faint red glow appeared in his eyes, and an invisible aura radiated outward from where he knelt. Pikachu, held firmly in Ash's arms, trembled slightly as every hair on its body stood on end.