"Alright, I'm counting on you, Poké Ball!"
With that, Ash immediately threw the Poké Ball in his hand at the pink Butterfree, then absorbed it into the Poké Ball as a red light.
After a moment of shaking, the pink Butterfree was completely captured by Ash's thrown Poké Ball. The excited Ash immediately ran over and excitedly raised the Poké Ball in his hand high.
"I caught the pink Butterfree!"
Immediately after, Ash released the pink Butterfree, who quickly came to Butterfree's side, nuzzling against Butterfree's chest.
"You two will be living in this garden from now on. I guarantee you'll find the environment here very comfortable," Professor Oak assured them, making a note to add Butterfree feed to his list.
"I'm so envious of Ash, he actually caught such a beautiful Butterfree," Misty said enviously. Although she was afraid of Bug-type Pokémon, as a girl, Misty still felt affection for the pink Butterfree.
"What a perfect ending..." Red sighed.
Now with Butterfree's return, Ash's battle strength had increased considerably. After all, Butterfree had also been stimulated by Red's psychic power, and moreover, having lived in the wild for so long, its strength was naturally superior to ordinary Butterfree.
The Next Day
"Wake up, Ash! Didn't you promise me you'd go to morning training today!"
At six o'clock in the morning, Red, who had gotten up on time and finished his simple morning routine, walked to the door of Ash's room and knocked gently a few times, signaling for Ash to hurry up and get out of bed.
Yesterday, due to Butterfree's return, the excited Ash had "made grand promises" to Red, guaranteeing he would join Red for training tomorrow on time. The sparring partner would naturally be the newly returned Butterfree.
"Yes..."
After a moment, a drowsy reply finally came softly from inside the room, clearly indicating he hadn't woken up from his sweet dreams.
"Mr. Mime, please go wake up Ash and have him come downstairs for breakfast quickly."
Red instructed Mr. Mime, who had just come upstairs to clean. Under Mr. Mime's slightly timid gaze, Red turned and walked toward the stairs.
However, out of curiosity, Red still subconsciously turned his head to look back, wanting to see what move Mr. Mime planned to use to wake up Ash, only to discover that Mr. Mime had already skillfully brought a vacuum cleaner, preparing to give Ash a facial cleaning exercise.
"Still the same familiar formula."
With that, Red went downstairs, greeted Delia, who was preparing breakfast, then came to the dining table and ate bread while drinking warm milk.
After eating his fill, Red listened to Delia's instructions, then finally saw Ash reluctantly come down from upstairs, with Pikachu on his shoulder clearly not fully awake, still yawning from time to time.
"Alright, alright, stop procrastinating. You were the one who promised me you'd come to morning training together."
Red looked speechlessly at Ash and Pikachu. Were they really that sleepy?
But this couldn't be entirely blamed on Ash, since yesterday, due to Butterfree's return, Ash and Pikachu had been in an excited state all night, staying up until midnight before falling asleep in a daze.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Red used Teleport to bring Ash and Pikachu to one of his usual training locations. This was the place where he had trained Kabutops and Omastar a few days ago, but today's protagonists weren't those two.
"Come out, Gengar, Pikachu!"
With that, Red simultaneously threw two Poké Balls, releasing the thousand-year-old Gengar and Pikachu one after another.
"Oh my, why would Ash appear in Boss's morning training activities?"
The thousand-year-old Gengar, who had just come out, turned his head to see Ash and stared at Ash's face with surprise, making sarcastic comments.
"What's that supposed to mean? That comment is somewhat targeting me, Gengar!" Ash retorted.
"Not at all, it's just that in my impression, you do nothing but eat and sleep, hardly participating in any Pokémon training sessions. Otherwise, how would your Pokémon be so weak?" the thousand-year-old Gengar continued his sarcasm, not giving Ash any face whatsoever.
"Damn it!"
Ash, who had originally still been somewhat drowsy, was now completely fired up by the thousand-year-old Gengar's sarcasm, determined to immediately start the training session.
"How about that, Boss? My provocation method isn't bad, right?"
The thousand-year-old Gengar looked smugly at Red.
"Alright, let me first explain this morning's training session. The training targets this time are Pikachu and Butterfree, so the sparring partners I've arranged are naturally also Pikachu and Gengar."
Red explained to the confused Ash and Pikachu.
"As the older brother, Pikachu naturally knows how to train his younger brother, and the thousand-year-old Gengar can also appropriately train Butterfree's psychic power, incidentally enhancing Butterfree's strength."
Butterfree could master Shadow Ball, and Red had also instructed the thousand-year-old Gengar to personally demonstrate and teach it, indirectly improving Butterfree's strength.
After the stone Red threw hit the ground, training began.
"Pika... chu!"
Red's Pikachu immediately released its high-voltage current, using Thunderbolt to attack Ash's Pikachu ahead.
Seeing this, Ash's Pikachu also immediately countered with Thunderbolt. The two electrical currents collided with each other in mid-air, producing a violent explosion within moments.
Red's Pikachu instantly became a blur, striking Ash's Pikachu with lightning speed. The impact force directly made Ash's Pikachu retreat several steps.
'Don't get too distracted during battle. When I was surviving in the wild, battles weren't as restrained as they are now,' Red's Pikachu scolded, telling Ash's Pikachu to pay more attention. If the sparring partner wasn't his own brother, Red's Pikachu might have already used harsh moves.
'I understand!'
Ash's Pikachu embarrassedly scratched his face but felt inexplicably longing for this current scene, since his sparring partner was his own older brother.
Although he wasn't sending out Pidgeot and Scizor to train himself, Ash's Pikachu definitely hoped to have his brother by his side.
"The battle over there is quite intense," the thousand-year-old Gengar teased, condensing a Shadow Ball in both hands and firing it at Butterfree within moments.
Butterfree's eyes released azure light, using Psychic to control the incoming Shadow Ball, but discovered the Shadow Ball's power was very strong and couldn't be blocked.
Butterfree changed tactics, firing seven-colored light from its eyes, using Psybeam to counter the incoming Shadow Ball. Within moments, the two moves exploded due to their collision.
Seeing this scene, Butterfree flapped its wings and gracefully performed a mysterious and beautiful dance, thereby increasing its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed.
"It's actually Quiver Dance. It seems this little guy has indeed improved considerably in strength," Red said with slight surprise, not expecting Butterfree to have mastered the Quiver Dance move.
"Big brother, what kind of move is Quiver Dance?"
Ash was instantly confused, turning his puzzled gaze toward Red, hoping Red would patiently explain it to him.
"Quiver Dance is a Bug-type move. Its effect can raise the user's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed by 1 level each. Currently, only fifteen known Pokémon species can learn Quiver Dance," Red explained.