Chapter 030: Dawn’s Smug Triumph

"Hey, Dawn? Are you there?!"

"Pika-pi~ Pika~"

After agreeing to Brock's request to find Dawn in the forest, Ash and Pikachu had been wandering around for four or five minutes, but they still hadn't spotted her.

Considering Dawn's somewhat reckless personality, Ash and Pikachu began to worry about her.

Compared to when she first set out from Twinleaf Town, Dawn now had Piplup with her, giving her some degree of self-protection.

But Piplup was just a newly received starter Pokémon, and Dawn was a brand-new rookie Trainer. If they encountered a powerful wild Pokémon, defeating it wouldn't be easy for them.

"Seriously, where did she run off to? Should we have Starly search for them? But…"

Though this forest's vegetation was less dense than the one near Lake Verity, offering Starly decent maneuverability, it wasn't as open as a clear field. Even for Starly, its field of vision would be quite limited here.

The last thing they needed was to not only fail to find Dawn but lose Starly in the process.

"Pika?"

As Ash hesitated, Pikachu's ears suddenly twitched. It stood upright, closing its eyes to listen intently to every faint sound it could pick up.

"Got something?"

Ash asked excitedly, seeing Pikachu's reaction.

"Pika!"

Finally, as if reaching a conclusion, Pikachu darted toward a direction in the forest, leading Ash. Sure enough, moments later, Ash spotted Dawn and Piplup engaged in a battle.

"Found her at last…"

Ash let out a sigh of relief, then followed Dawn's line of sight. He realized she was battling a Buneary, and from her demeanor, it seemed she was intent on capturing it.

"Piplup, Bubble Beam!"

"Pip!"

By the time Ash arrived, the battle was in its final stages. Buneary must have been hit by Piplup's moves earlier, as it lacked the strength to dodge the surging Bubble Beam and was sent flying backward.

"Now's the chance! Go, Poké Ball!"

Dawn excitedly threw her Poké Ball, thinking she and Piplup were about to capture their first Pokémon. But as she raised her arm, her hand slipped.

"Huh?"

"Ow?!"

As Dawn let out a confused sound, still unsure what happened, a pained yelp came from behind her—Ash's voice.

"Ash? What are you doing here?"

"That's what I should be asking you… Why are you throwing Poké Balls all over the place?"

Ash grumbled, rubbing the spot where the Poké Ball had hit him.

"I wasn't throwing it randomly! I was trying to catch Buneary! If anything, you showing up here totally messed up my capture!"

"Huh? Who messed up your capture? The problem's with you chucking the Poké Ball carelessly, isn't it? If you want to catch a Pokémon, you need to aim an empty Poké Ball at a wild Pokémon that's unable to fight.

That's basic Trainer knowledge! Not just tossing it anywhere, expecting the Poké Ball to grow legs and bonk the wild Pokémon into submission!"

"I said it was an accident! An accident!"

"Then just say that! Why're you blaming me?"

"Because you, Ash…"

"Pip! Pip!!"

As Ash and Dawn bickered endlessly, Piplup began making urgent noises from the sidelines. When they finally turned their attention, they saw that Buneary, which had fainted earlier, had woken up and was now hopping away, ready to escape.

"Oh no!"

Only then did Dawn realize this wasn't the time to argue. She hurriedly pulled another empty Poké Ball from her pocket and threw it straight…

Into a nearby bush.

"Mi~"

Buneary let out a mocking chirp before vanishing from their sight. Ash, watching this, sighed with a tone of pity, saying, "See? Don't blame the path if you're the one who's off. Who throws a Poké Ball like that~"

Dawn: "…"

Dawn glared at Ash furiously. Earlier, she might've had some ground to argue back, but after such a foolish blunder, she couldn't shift the blame anymore. She just huffed coldly, saying, "It's a small problem! Every rookie Trainer makes these mistakes. I'll figure it out eventually!"

"Don't pin everything on being a rookie Trainer! Throwing a Poké Ball should be the simplest thing. Normal people don't miss that badly."

"Huh? Are you picking a fight on purpose?"

"Isn't that what you're doing? Pikachu, back me up."

"Pika…"

Pikachu hadn't expected to be dragged into this. It hadn't even been spectating, keeping its face turned away to avoid trouble. But despite its efforts, it got roped in anyway.

Pikachu looked at Ash with pleading eyes, as if begging to be spared, but Ash and Dawn, caught up in their spat, seemed ready to treat Pikachu's opinion as the tiebreaker, ignoring its pitiful gaze.

Piplup discreetly slipped behind a large tree for cover, avoiding getting caught in the crossfire.

"Pika… Pika…"

Pikachu glanced at Dawn, then at Ash, its ears drooping as it hesitated. Finally, it reluctantly raised a paw to point at Dawn.

"What?!"

"Hmph~! Told you I was right!"

Dawn struck a smug pose, seemingly surprised that Pikachu sided with her. But since she'd won, she wasn't about to let the moment pass without gloating.

"That's odd~ Why would Pikachu support me? Logically, isn't Pikachu your starter Pokémon? So, in its experience, rookie Trainers shouldn't mess up that badly, right?

Now I'm curious~ Ash, it wasn't just getting chased by Spearow back then, was it?

You must've done something way more embarrassing you haven't told us about.

Come on, spill it~ Heh heh~"