Joining Forces

The quiet night passed, and when Yuga and the others woke up the next day, they noticed that Eusine had dark circles under his sleepy eyes, which seemed quite unusual.

Yuga asked, "Eusine, did you not sleep well last night? Why do you have such heavy dark circles?"

Eusine chuckled nervously, "Uh, maybe I didn't adapt well to sleeping in the cave. Just had a bit of insomnia, nothing serious."

After breakfast, the group of four prepared to set off towards the Mount Tensei officially.

Although the name Mount Tensei sounded similar to the Indigo Plateau near the headquarters of the Kanto League, their geographical locations were entirely different.

The Indigo Plateau was situated in the western part of the entire Kanto Region, housing the headquarters of both the Kanto and Johto Regions' Leagues. It was also the birthplace of the entire Pokémon League.

On the other hand, the Mount Tensei were located in the central part of the Kanto Region, within a vast and primitive area. Cities like Vermilion City, Viridian City, and Celadon City were all on its outskirts, surrounded by forests, mountains, and numerous wild Pokémon.

Before embarking on their journey to the Mount Tensei, Yuga turned to Sabrina and Eusine and asked, "From here on, we'll be entering deep forests and mountains. It can be dangerous. Are you sure you still want to continue with us?"

Sabrina nodded without hesitation. "Wherever Gon goes, I go."

Although Sabrina spoke with a stoic expression, her straightforward words made Gon's face turn somewhat unnatural.

"Of course, after coming this far, giving up halfway isn't my style," Eusine quickly added.

So, the four of them began their journey towards the Mount Tensei.

However, to reach the foothills of the Mount Tensei, they first had to traverse vast expanses of thick forests.

Summer was the season when the forests were at their lushest and most vibrant, teeming with life and vitality.

As Yuga and his group ventured deeper into the great forest, they encountered countless Pokémon that lived there. These forest-dwelling Pokémon were notably stronger than their counterparts near human towns, and they showed great curiosity about the unexpected visitors.

Oddish hid in the grass, Pidgey perched on branches, Caterpie and Weedle rested on leaves, and pairs of Nidoran roamed the area, all observing Yuga and his group passing by with inquisitive eyes.

Perhaps because they hadn't ventured too far into the forest yet, these Pokémon seemed very gentle and didn't show any intention to attack Yuga and his group.

For Gon, who had been confined to a laboratory for most of his life, seeing so many Pokémon along the way filled him with curiosity and interest.

Under Yuga's guidance, he even successfully captured an Exeggcute, Grass-type and a Psychic-type Pokémon, with good potential.

Due to his status as a Psychic-type, Gon felt a strong affinity for Psychic-type Pokémon and was more suited to training them. Therefore, both Yuga and Sabrina advised him to specialize in Psychic-types.

As Yuga and his group ventured further into the forest, they encountered some forest Pokémon that mistook them for intruders and launched attacks.

Although these Pokémon were reasonably strong within the forest, they still paled in comparison to Yuga and his team of trained Pokémon.

Yuga mainly rotated his three Pokémon: Shroomish, Charmeleo, and Ivysaur, to deal with these encounters. Along the way, these three Pokémon gained valuable battle experience, and their strength grew accordingly.

With Yuga's three Pokémon and Gon's ability to handle situations, Sabrina and Eusine refrained from intervening. They understood that both Gon and Yuga needed the practical experience for their Pokémon.

So, as they continued through the forest, they spent a full three days walking, but they were still far from the Mount Tensei' location shown on the map.

This map was handed to Yuga by Joe throught a young monk and it was the most primitive paper map. It was quite different from the electronic maps with built-in navigation that Yuga usually used, making it a bit cumbersome to navigate.

The map depicted the Mount Tensei as an extensive range of mountains, not only vast in territory but also filled with rugged peaks, making it quite challenging to climb.

As they got closer to the Mount Tensei, the iridescent feather that Gon carried with him emitted a brighter and brighter glow.

On this particular afternoon, after crossing a long, steep slope, the group arrived at the banks of a small river and decided to take a break and have lunch.

The river sparkled under the sunlight, its waters crystal clear, winding its way out from the depths of the dense forest.

Summer in the forest was still quite hot, and after their arduous journey, the one thing Yuga and his team wanted most was to cool off and refresh themselves by the river.

Yuga, Gon, and Eusine all took off their shoes and socks, stepping onto the riverbank's pebbles, enjoying the refreshing river water. Only Sabrina, sitting quietly in the shade of a tree, chose not to join them and watched the three of them.

This section of the river had already been checked by Yuga's Chimecho and Sabrina's Alakazam with their psychic abilities. Besides some weaker Pokémon like Magikarp and Poliwag, there weren't any dangerous Pokémon around.

After cooling off in the river for a while, they made their way back to the shore to prepare lunch.

However, just as they stepped onto the shore, they saw a panicked Tentacruel floating down from upstream.

As Tentacruel passed by Yuga and his group, they initially thought it would continue downstream along the river. However, it suddenly extended its long tentacles, grabbing onto the riverbank rocks and leaped onto the shore.

To their astonishment, Tentacruel immediately sprayed several globs of dissolving liquid, aiming directly at Gon.

Fortunately, when playing in the water earlier, Gon had released his Slowpoke. He quickly commanded Slowpoke to use its Psychic abilities to control the dissolving liquid, preventing it from harming him.

However, it was clear that Tentacruel was stronger than Slowpoke. Despite Psychic's resistance to the liquid, Slowpoke could only barely defend against Tentacruel's attacks.

"Shroomish, use Leech Seed!" Yuga commanded as he released his own Shroomish.

Shroomish spewed small, nail-sized brown seeds from its mouth, which swiftly landed on Tentacruel before growing into thin vines.

"Gon, strike now!" Yuga shouted when he saw Tentacruel's movement restricted by the vines spawned by the Leech Seed.

Gon immediately understood and commanded his Slowpoke, "Slowpoke, use Psychic!"

Slowpoke's expression remained unchanged, but its eyes quickly emitted a blue glow, forming a ray of Psychic energy that surged towards Tentacruel.

Meanwhile, Yuga's Shroomish had also released numerous Bullet Seeds, detonating them on Tentacruel's body.

With the combined efforts of the two Pokémon, Tentacruel helplessly collapsed.