"It's not entirely empty." Ash looked around, then pointed to Misty's feet.
"Ah!!" Misty looked down upon hearing this and immediately shrieked in fright, instinctively jumping away. Upon closer inspection, she saw a Pokémon with a shell covering its entire body on the beach.
Its appearance resembled a fiddler crab, its body's carapace was red and fleshy white in two layers, and it spat out white foam from its mouth. Unlike a crab's small, green-bean-like eyes, it had a pair of human-like large eyes.
"What! It's a Krabby! You scared me." It wasn't that she was now afraid of Water-type Pokémon; it was just startled by its sudden appearance at her feet.
"Hmm~~~ Normally, Krabby should grow to about 40cm. This Krabby looks a bit underdeveloped!" Brock said, looking at the Krabby before him. It was more like a 'Tiny Crab' than a 'Big Crab'. In terms of size, it was only about 20cm. To be honest, carrying those large claws, one would worry if it would get too tired.
Kukuku!!!
Krabby seemed a bit displeased upon hearing Brock's words. It let out cries while spitting foam. Brock was slightly stunned upon hearing this. "Ah! My apologies. As a Pokémon Breeder, I really shouldn't say such things. I'm sorry!" Brock immediately apologized when he saw Krabby's reaction, then looked at Misty and said, "Misty, do you want to catch it?"
"I... I'll pass! This underdeveloped Krabby, and I'm most afraid of Pokémon with too many legs." Even for Water-type Pokémon, there were some Misty couldn't overcome. Not just Krabby; she also disliked Tentacool, Tentacruel, and the like.
"Why do you keep saying it's underdeveloped? Maybe it just hasn't grown up yet?" Ash listened to their conversation, took off his backpack, and squatted down in front of Krabby. Foolish humans, he thought inwardly,
you know nothing of Krabby's strength. If it were in his own era, Ash would call this Krabby "Pokémon Ma Hongjun" (joking). While not as exaggerated as single-handedly defeating seven opponents, defeating three would be easy.
"Little guy, would you like to be my Pokémon?" Ash squatted on the beach, looking at the Krabby before him, and asked.
"Ash, are you serious?" Misty looked at this scene, somewhat speechless. Ash wanted to catch such an underdeveloped Krabby? One should know that even the Pokémon he previously caught, even if abandoned, were unexpectedly strong. It's just that their previous owners were blind.
But this Krabby didn't look very powerful at all. And this way of catching it was too childish, wasn't it? Although Ash's previous methods of catching Pokémon also surprised her, they at least involved some incidents, and the Pokémon themselves were willing to follow. But now, trying to convince it with just a word or two was a bit too much for her to comprehend.
"What does it matter? If I only catch powerful Pokémon, wouldn't being a trainer be too boring?" Ash didn't care. He still looked at the Krabby before him with anticipation.
Kukuku!!!
Hearing Ash's words, Krabby looked up slightly at Ash's sincere smile. Hearing Brock and Misty say it was underdeveloped touched Krabby's heart. After a moment of silence, Krabby's eyes narrowed into crescent shapes, as if smiling at Ash. Seeing this, Ash also smiled, then took out a Poké Ball.
"Then let's do it!" Ash said, taking out the Poké Ball, then directly held it in his hand, and gently touched Krabby's forehead with it. The Poké Ball instantly opened, then captured Krabby inside. The Poké Ball closed, its button glowing red. Ash held the Poké Ball, his hand trembling.
Thump!!!!
After a while, the Poké Ball finally stopped shaking, and the red light on the button also disappeared.
"See? Catching Pokémon also depends on the method. Battle isn't the only way." Ash shook the Poké Ball in his hand and said to Misty.
"I agree with that. A Pokémon's heartfelt acceptance is most important." Brock also agreed. Before traveling with Ash, he didn't understand this principle, but after getting to know Ash, he deeply understood it.
"Hmph!! Yes, yes, yes! You're right." Misty replied haughtily, but in fact, she agreed in her heart.
Whoosh!!!
At this moment, the Poké Ball also emitted light, then disappeared from Ash's hand. All three knew that the Poké Ball must have been teleported to the lab.
"It's getting dark. Are we going to sleep outdoors again tonight?" He glanced at the sky. The sun had already set below the horizon. Although he loved the sea, he didn't like sleeping outdoors, even though he was already used to camping.
"This area is all ocean. There's no Pokémon Center, so there shouldn't be anywhere to go, right?" Brock said, looking at the map.
"It's not entirely nothing. Look over there!" Ash looked into the distance. Ash remembered there should be a lighthouse in this sea area. After searching for a bit, he quickly found it. On the beach cliff not far away, a tall lighthouse. As dusk approached, light also emitted from the lighthouse, rotating at the top, guiding ships sailing at night.
"It's a lighthouse! If there's light, that should mean there are people, right! But that should be a private place!" Brock couldn't help but say, upon hearing this.
"Can we ask to stay there for the night? It's better than sleeping outdoors, right?" Misty's eyes suddenly lit up when she saw the lighthouse. It wasn't a Pokémon Center, so the accommodation might not be great, but it was still better than sleeping outside.
"That's right!" It was indeed better to have a place for shelter. Although it was a private place, they could still pay for accommodation.
"Then let's go!" Ash also called out to the two. Then he walked towards the lighthouse. The two immediately followed. The lighthouse wasn't particularly far, just located higher up. After about ten minutes, the three arrived at the lighthouse door.
PS: To be honest, I somewhat understand why the anime let Butterfree and Primeape go. It must have been because there wasn't enough space (joking). Writing up to here, with what I've added and what's in the anime, there's even less space. This is probably where the protagonist Ash and an original protagonist face difficulties!
📢 MASSIVE UPDATE FOR BINGE-READERS! 📢
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