Early the next morning, Dongshu and Raikou quietly left Cerulean City and headed toward Vermilion City.
The distance between Cerulean City and Vermilion City was not short. According to the map, not only was there a forest between them, but they also had to pass through several small villages and towns.
Although some of those towns had never appeared in the anime, they truly existed in this real world.
Riding Raikou, Dongshu traveled at a leisurely pace, stopping and starting along the way. Near noon, the man and Pokémon arrived at a forest.
The two found an open patch of ground to rest.
Dongshu released Squirtle and Gastly from their Poké Balls, then began preparing lunch for them.
Both Pokémon had specially made Sacred Ash mixed rice for lunch.
Squirtle happily devoured the miraculous dish that could make its body stronger.
Dongshu looked Squirtle over from head to toe.
After these past few days of nutritional supplements and battle training, Squirtle's once frail body had grown increasingly sturdy.
In terms of level, Squirtle had already broken through to Lv11. Its progress could be called astonishingly fast.
As for Gastly—
Because this Gastly was suspected to be Meowth's reincarnated soul, Dongshu had rarely let it take part in battles. Instead, he had simply kept it by his side during their travels.
After pondering for a moment, Dongshu called out, "Gastly."
"Gastly?" Gastly, which had been licking its plate with its tongue, turned to look at him.
"Do you want to become stronger like Squirtle and battle other Pokémon?" Dongshu asked.
Dongshu did not have particularly high expectations for the strength of the Pokémon around him. Compared with battling, he hoped more that they could properly enjoy this journey.
And, while he was at it, experience what it felt like to personally