240. Professor Birch and Shenanigans

Considering that the Egg had been taking so long to hatch and that it was Professor Oak that sent him this red Pokémon Egg, Ash knew he would like the Pokémon that will hatch from this.

So he was looking forward to the hatching day of this Pokémon Egg.

They then went back to their makeshift camp in the inner bay from Dewford Town again, and this time Ash and his party did not go through the cave. Instead, they walked around the hillside where the cave was located and along the coastline. The scenery here was much more beautiful at this time than any cave.

"Big Bro, there seems to be someone over there!" Max pointed to the hillside not far away, and saw that there was indeed a person hanging on the steep rock wall, and he didn't seem to know what he was doing.

But the posture and height were both very dangerous, so Ash and the group hurriedly ran over to check up on him.

After getting closer, Ash almost immediately recognized the man's aura on the mountain wall.

It was clearly Professor Birch.

He was most likely here to study the nest that Wingull had built on the mountain walls nearby.

Professor Birch was very famous in the research community because the amount of risk he puts his own life on for observation and research purposes.

His spirit was really something that should be admired but not copied.

However, when the Wingull returned to his nest, he found an uninvited guest and drove him away by flapping his long wings a couple times.

At the same moment, Professor Birch's feet loosened up on the wall and he was falling down at high speeds.

"That doesn't look good at all!" May exclaimed. Professor Birch would at least be seriously injured after falling from such a height, and that's the least of the issues he could face.

"Damn, he's too far!" Ash gritted his teeth and moved as fast as his feet could go.

With their current distance, Ash's Psychic couldn't reach it. Fortunately, Professor Birch was cushioned when he fell.

The cushion he just hit was the Loudred from yesterday.

This Loudred's body was almost half as elastic as Snorlax, which definitely says something.

Thankfully the Loudred just happened to be at the right place at the right time to save Professor Birch from serious harm.

Loudred was again rightfully angry when he was woken up from his sleep.

He couldn't sleep well in the cave because it had collapsed in the past where he had lived, so now he was enjoying the nice weather outside but it looked like he also couldn't have any peace outside, what a sad life he has.

Now all of his veins were bulging and he was getting geared to roar loudly.

Ash finally arrived at that time. When he saw it was the same Loudred from yesterday, he hurried over and said, "What a luck we have. Thank you for saving Professor Birch. These are all yours!"

This time Ash took out a whole can of Pokémon food for Normal-type Pokémon's, which was most likely the tastiest food for Loudred, so he just took the food and left from here to find another new spot. This time he was hoping to find a place where he won't have to wake up because someone interrupted his mating dreams.

"Well if it isn't Ash, thank you so much again. I didn't expect you to be so good at dealing with wild Pokémon's like that Loudred!" Professor Birch was very impressed by Ash's abilities, even though he knew of Ash and almost all of his capabilities from Professor Oak.

May and the others behind Ash also soon caught up at the same place.

As the group of Ash and the new Professor Birch sat around the tents, Ash poured a glass of water for Professor Birch, "Why did you decide to come to Dewford Island?"

"I have always had a wish to observe the Pokémon shells on this island, and I thought this to be the best opportunity. For example, the nearby Wingulls here build their nests on the steep cliffs like that!" Professor Birch looked at the Wingulls on the cliff. This time he was observing the Pokémon's nest structure with more details.

"By the way, Ash, why are you guys here? I thought you guys were going to be at Slateport City by now." After talking about some of his own research affairs, Professor Birch looked at ten group and asked in some mild confusion.

Hearing this, Ash smiled and said, "We are just like you Professor, we want to take a good look at Pokémon here and train up some more. This is the perfect place to bond and train some new Pokémon's."

"Professor Birch, Big Bro has already caught three Pokémon on Dewford Island!" As soon as Max finished speaking, he was struck by Ash's Fist of a Big Brother again.

"You sure know how to talk big, don't ya?"

Professor Birch looked at Max and smiled at them, "Really? Ash, can you show me them?"

As he said this, he looked at the half-awake Ralts above Ash's head and said, "That Ralts of yours sure is looking very healthy. I can see from that smile of it that Ralts really loves. Ash, you found a good Pokémon."

Ash smiled and threw out three of his Poké Balls, "Corphish, Aron, Mudkip, say hello to the Professor!"

Professor Birch immediately lay down his pen and put his eyes to level with the small stature group, "Everyone here is developing very well. Hi there Corphish!"

Seeing the large pliers raised by Corphish, Max wanted to remind him, but it was already too late for that. Corphish's pliers had already tightened around Professor Birch's hands.

"Ow! Hey hey! Ow!"

Corphish looked very happy and hit Professor Birch's head with pliers one after another. He couldn't even dodge or do anything about the attack.

Ash quickly pulled his Corphish away from the defeated Professor and gently hit him on the head, "Can you save me some trouble. Why do you always do that?" Ash asked tiredly.

"Cop! Cor Corphish!"

He didn't seem to mind this at all as he still smiling happily.

"That Corphish of yours is truly such an energetic Pokémon!" Professor Birch was in pain, but he still didn't blame Ash's Corphish.

Then he looked at Ash's Aron, and saw that the armor on his body was shining with a pure metalic yellow shine. He said, "Ash, your Aron's armor... What do you feed it to make it look so shiny?"

"Specially obtained high-strength pure steel!" Ash said with a smile, which was the truth this time.

"No wonder that the armore looks so shiny and powerful!" Professor Birch understood and admired Ash's devotion to his Pokémon's.

Of course, he didn't know that Ash only spent exchange points and not actually his money. Fortunately, he had destroyed some "victims" in the Rustboro City Pokémon Trainer School before, and also some points from the Team Rocket Trio, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to afford all of Aron's and Dratini's food. Now with the good food for Aron, he had to buy ores and other metals to feed his future defense tank.

"That Mudkip..." Professor Birch then looked at Mudkip, and then which he was immediately hit by a Water Gun, "Haha, he looks very healthy too!"

This newly caught Mudkip usually has a very calm personality, he is brave and strong, and thus is very compatible with Ash and his team.

Since they met Professor Birch here, Ash and his team immediately decided to follow Professor Birch to do some Pokémon field investigation with him.

Who knows if they find something interesting here.

At this moment, on the other side of the hillside, a red helicopter landed on the beach, and the famous Team Magma that Ash and May had encountered way back at the Oldale Ruins came out.

Under the leadership of Professor Birch, Ash and his party came to a small valley along the coastline, and found a cave in the deepest part of the place. "There should be wild Zubats and Golbats living in it."

It's daytime now, Golbat must be hanging upside down to rest, after all, they would need this energy for their hunts at night.

However, what was revealed to everyone's eyes when they reached the deepest part of the valley was a large hole dug that was definitely dug out by some kind of machinery.

Ash looked at the big hole and showed a deep frown on his face, "Everyone, this place is very unusual. We must be careful when we go in, there must be some unneeded shenanigans going on there." Ash said that in a hush voice.

"Okay, Ash, you should be more experienced in this situation than any of us, so I'll let you lead the team."

Professor Birch also had a gloomy look on his face. All Pokémon Professors, well most, advocate the harmonious coexistence of humans and Pokémon's.

Obviously, Professor Birch here is very disgusted with the actions that some humans are doing here. They are causing damage to the natural ecology of Pokémon, which is anything but ideal.

He knew that Ash was not just any regular Pokémon Investigator and that showed when Ash was slowly releasing the pressure that he only felt from Steven once, so he immediately decided to follow Ash's experienced arrangements.

Just as the group were going to go deeper along the big hole, a dive boat also came to the shallow lake in front of the valley.

The other evil team, Team Aqua appeared here out of the blue, literally.

Wearing their dive equipment, they followed the passage on the cave and came to the depths of this valley lake.