The day after bidding farewell to Casey, Ash and his companions passed through a forest. Soon, they discovered something unusual here.
"What's going on? Why did it suddenly become so desolate?"
"It was a beautiful green forest just now?"
Ash closed his eyes, and his Aura power spread out. Sure enough, only this one area had become very desolate, and all the trees had withered.
Soon, he discovered something amiss.
"This way!"
Ash opened his eyes, called out to the two, and quickly rushed over.
It was a tall, thick tree, large enough for five or six people to embrace, and several Heracross, 1.5 meters tall, could comfortably find a spot to cling to.
They seemed to be sucking tree sap.
"Ah, what is that? Could they all be insects?"
Misty was most afraid of bugs. Back in Viridian Forest, where Ash caught Caterpie, it was because of her that they just quickly passed through.
"Those are Heracross, Misty. These beetle-like Bug-type Pokémon aren't fuzzy, so don't be afraid!" Ash said, comforting her with a smile.
Hearing this, Misty nodded, "Now that you mention it, it seems okay! They look quite pleasant."
Heracross, the Single Horn Pokémon, has a gentle nature and great strength. It excels at drilling its horn into an opponent's abdomen and then lifting them up.
While the three were discussing, several Butterfree flew over.
These Heracross not only allowed the Butterfree to eat with them but also gave them good spots.
"They really are gentle-natured, that's so nice!" Misty wasn't afraid of Butterfree; Ash used to have one too.
"So, how exactly did this place become so desolate?" Brock began to ponder.
"We'll know if we wait and see!"
No sooner had Ash finished speaking than the answer appeared.
Several Pinsir appeared in the forest.
Compared to Heracross, Pinsir looked much more ferocious and had a much fiercer appearance.
Their arrival immediately scared away the Butterfree, who then climbed into the canopy of the large tree, glaring down at the Heracross from above.
"Heracross, don't just run away, quickly think of a plan!" Misty shouted when she saw the Heracross being forced back by the Pinsir.
However, the Heracross flapped their wings and, just as she thought they were about to counterattack, they ran away.
They ran away?!
"Now I understand! The arrival of the Pinsir scared away the Heracross, so the Heracross could only feed on the sap of these surrounding small trees, which caused these trees to wither!" Brock immediately understood what had happened here.
"Damn it, Heracross are too cowardly!" Misty looked resentfully at the Pinsir that had taken over the large tree.
"Misty, you're wrong. A gentle nature doesn't mean cowardice! When the world is in danger, heroes will be born!"
Hearing Ash's words, Misty was a bit confused.
Little did she know, back then, when the Pidgey flock in Viridian Forest was threatened, Ash's Pidgey evolved into Pidgeotto!
Pikachu, however, made a discovery. From the group of Heracross that had left, one flew back.
This Heracross was noticeably larger and its eyes were much sharper.
"This is... a hero!" Misty murmured, looking at that Heracross.
That Heracross glanced at Ash, then flew over.
Ash smiled slightly, "Pikachu!"
"Pika!"
Ash and Pikachu followed closely!
The Heracross flapped its wings, and a white light appeared on the large horn on its head.
"Hmm? This is a Flying-type move, Aerial Ace!"
Ash immediately recognized Heracross's move.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"
Flying-type moves are super effective against Bug-types. With this attack, combined with Pikachu's agile movements, they quickly drove away the Pinsir.
"Not bad!"
Ash praised, looking at the Heracross that landed in front of him.
"Eat this!"
This was Bug-type feed he had just exchanged from the system's shop, and its taste was by no means inferior to the tree sap.
It was clear that Heracross really liked eating it.
With the Pinsir driven away, the Heracross and Butterfree returned.
The Heracross beside Ash glanced at him, then walked towards the depths of the forest, in the direction the Pinsir had fled.
Seeing this, Misty, who had returned to Ash's side, couldn't help but murmur, "Is it going to settle scores with the Pinsir? It really is a 'hero'!"
"It shouldn't be going to settle scores!" Ash motioned for the two to follow. Pikachu had already returned to his shoulder.
The three followed behind Heracross. After thinking carefully, Brock agreed with Ash's view, "Misty, think about it, why did those Pinsir come to Heracross's area to suck tree sap?"
"Isn't it because Pinsir are very aggressive Pokémon?" Misty said without thinking.
"Of course not!" Ash shook his head, "Although Pinsir look fierce and their personalities are indeed much more aggressive than Heracross, they also need fixed territories and would never deliberately invade others' territories!"
If that's the case... Brock immediately realized, "Then that means there must have been some reason that caused the Pinsir to lose their territory, which is why they came to Heracross's area!"
"Brock is right."
With that Heracross leading the way, the three walked smoothly, but after a while, they saw a canyon.
Heracross stopped at the edge of the canyon and looked at Ash.
Seeing this, Ash deduced, "It seems the Pinsir's territory should be on the other side of this canyon!"
"But how do we get across?" Brock was a bit troubled.
Charizard currently couldn't carry people in flight.
Ash looked around, "Heracross, push down that big tree. You should be able to do it!"
"Heracro!"
Heracross's eyes also lit up, and it stepped behind the large tree.
Boom!
It seemed very easy. A large tree was pushed down and laid across the canyon, forming a single-log bridge.
"That's really amazing!"
Ash praised Heracross, then led Pikachu across first.
After initially grasping the power of Aura, his "Strongest True Beginner" athletic ability had been further enhanced, so walking across this single-log bridge was naturally not a problem.
However, Misty, who was last, was in a difficult situation.
"Hey, don't walk so fast!"
Ash looked back. Misty, being a girl, looked very scared.
After all, the tree trunk was round, and if she accidentally slipped and fell into the canyon, several lives wouldn't be enough.
Seeing this, Ash shook his head and walked back.
"Ash? Why did you come back?"
Ash squatted down with his back to her, "Come on up!"
Pikachu: 185/255