It turned out Ash's judgment was correct.
Although Pikachu still lacked training, its tail was a very important body part for it.
It only took two days for it to learn Iron Tail. Of course, this only meant it could successfully use it; to use it skillfully would require practical combat experience.
What truly satisfied Ash was Charizard, wearing the forced training device. It had completely adapted to the heavy and rigid restraints of the forced training device!
"Again!"
Ash's fists glowed with blue light. Facing Charizard's swinging claw, he didn't retreat but advanced, meeting it with a punch.
However, at that moment, Charizard's claw suddenly changed.
"Hmm?"
Ash's Aura sensed it in time, and he quickly dodged.
He saw that green Dragon-type energy began to gather on Charizard's claw, flashing with a sharp, dazzling green light!
Whoosh!
That Dragon Claw was practically capable of splitting gold and severing jade. After Ash dodged, it plunged into the rock wall behind him.
"Stop!"
Ash quickly called out, if that claw had really hit him just now, even with Aura, he would have been seriously injured.
Brock and Misty had already rushed over.
"Ash, what was that just now?"
Ash looked at Charizard, who was also a bit flustered, "Charizard, you must have learned the Dragon Claw move! This is a Dragon-type move!"
"Dragon Claw! How amazing!" Misty's eyes were a little starry; this move was indeed very impressive.
"Charizard, get familiar with the Dragon Claw move. This special training ends here!" With that, Ash took off the forced training device from Charizard.
"Roar!"
With its suppressed power restored, Charizard cheered wildly, spewing Flamethrower to its heart's content, the column of fire reaching over five meters high.
Shaking its arms, Charizard felt more powerful than ever before.
"Huh, what's this?"
Brock, who was nearby, suddenly exclaimed, holding a beautiful-looking fragment of stone in his hand.
"This looks so much like Miss Rochelle's necklace! Could it be?" Misty's eyes were full of surprise.
Ash took the stone fragment from Brock's hand, "It seems our luck is really good. Charizard, with its newly learned Dragon Claw, actually caught a small piece of agate!"
"That's great, Charizard found it!" Misty said happily, looking at Charizard, "Huh, why do I feel like Charizard has grown a bit taller?"
Charizard had indeed grown a bit taller; the effect of the forced training device seemed to be very good.
Not only that, but the bond between Ash and Charizard had also reached 175/255. This special training obviously yielded excellent results.
After Charizard became more familiar with its newly learned Dragon Claw move, Ash and his companions packed their bags, took the small piece of agate fragment they found, and went to find Miss Rochelle again.
"Miss Rochelle, it is the call of destiny that brings us together again!"
Miss Rochelle had been on the other side of the valley for the past few days, training a young Donphan to search for agate.
The moment he saw her, Brock's figure suddenly vanished from Ash's side and appeared in front of Miss Rochelle.
Then, Misty also disappeared, pulling Brock away.
"Ash, are you leaving?" Seeing Ash and his companions like this, Rochelle knew they were about to leave.
"Yes, Miss Rochelle, we found this. Is this agate?" Ash handed the found stone fragment to Rochelle.
It was indeed agate, and of very good quality, which surprised Rochelle.
When asked how Ash and his companions found this agate, Rochelle was also amazed by Ash and Charizard's good luck.
Since Rochelle agreed to process it for free, Ash didn't stand on ceremony.
This piece of agate was just enough to make two pendants. Ash gave one to Misty, and the other, of course, was for his mother, Delia.
"Well then, farewell!"
...After bidding farewell to Miss Rochelle and passing through Donphan Valley, Ash and his companions got lost again.
Although Ash had Aura and could sense direction, this place was clearly haunted!
Truly haunted!
"Ash, hurry up and think of something! I don't want to camp out in this kind of forest!"
It was getting dark. Although she was used to camping outdoors, in such a spooky-looking forest, where strange things could appear at any moment, Misty really couldn't stand it.
She didn't even realize that she was slowly starting to rely on Ash.
However, no sooner had she spoken than a chilling laugh suddenly echoed through the rustling of the forest wind.
"Ah!!"
Misty instinctively hugged Ash's arm; she was most afraid of such things.
Not only that, but they clearly saw eerie ghost faces appearing on the tree trunks around them.
"Pikachu, that direction, Thunderbolt!"
With a flash of blue light, Ash decisively gave the attack command towards the direction where he felt the eerie aura.
"Hahahahaha!"
Sure enough, on the tree trunk in that direction, which looked like nothing was there, the electric shock hit.
But after a cry of pain, another chilling laugh came.
"Hmph, Pikachu, this time it's that direction!"
Ash pointed in another direction, and sure enough, it hit again.
"Those are Gengar, Haunter, and Gastly!" This time, Ash clearly saw the fleeting figures.
They were all Ghost-type Pokémon!
"Misty, don't be scared. These are all illusions created by these Ghost-type Pokémon!" Ash gently comforted Misty beside him.
"Ash, can you do something?"
"I can only sense the auras of these Ghost Pokémon, but I can't break these illusions. If only I had a Pokémon that could use the Foresight move!"
Ash said with a bitter smile.
"Ash, it seems you've grown a lot!" A voice emerged from the depths of the forest.
Ash was all too familiar with this voice. "Gary, is that you?"
The figure was indeed Gary, Ash's eternal rival, "I didn't expect to see you here!"
At Gary's feet, there was also a small, one-legged owl Pokémon.
"Hoothoot?"
Clearly, Gary intended to use this Hoothoot's Foresight move to counter the illusions in this forest.
"To get out of this confusing forest, you need Hoothoot to lead the way!" Gary explained.
Hearing this, Ash nodded, "Then Gary, let's go together. Let's leave this forest. Tomorrow we'll have another battle, 1 VS 1!"
"Alright!"
Pikachu: 195 / 255
Charizard: 175 / 255
Snorlax: 135 / 255
Heracross: 100 / 250