Unfortunately, Goh clearly hadn't taken a single word of that warning to heart.
The more he looked at Ralts's adorable and well-behaved appearance, the more he liked it.
"It's so cute! I'm definitely going to catch a Ralts of my own someday!"
Hearing those words, a thought suddenly crossed Itsuki's mind.
He couldn't help asking, "Someday? What, are you planning to become a Pokémon Trainer too?"
"I don't want to be some Pokémon Trainer."
Goh shook his head.
"My dream is to catch every single Pokémon in the world, including Mew!"
'Just as I thought!'
Itsuki wasn't the slightest bit surprised by that answer.
"But if that's your goal, wouldn't all those Pokémon eventually become nothing more than collectibles?"
"Apart from increasing the number of Pokémon you own, what's the point?"
"Uh..."
Goh hesitated.
It seemed he had never seriously considered that question before.
However, after thinking about it for a moment, he shrugged indifferently.
"That's fine! My goal is to collect them all. As for everything else, I'll worry about it later!"
"Then I guess we're pretty different."
Itsuki shook his head helplessly.
"We Trainers catch Pokémon too, but our goal is to keep growing stronger together, reach greater heights, and travel the world alongside our partners."
"When you look at it that way, your reason for catching Pokémon seems a little too self-centered."
Hearing Itsuki's words, Chloe fell into a daze as she stared at the sundae in front of her.
'Traveling the world together with Pokémon...?'
It was something she had never really imagined before.
But now that she thought about it...
'That actually sounds like a pretty wonderful dream.'
...
After leaving Vermilion City, Itsuki followed the wide road northward.
Ralts and Bulbasaur walked beside him, one on his left and the other on his right.
Well, he had actually gotten the idea from Ash.
After all, traveling on foot alongside Pokémon didn't just help train their abilities.
It also strengthened the bond between Trainer and Pokémon.
Besides, having them around made the journey feel much less lonely.
As for their destination...
Naturally, it was the first Gym he intended to challenge—the Cerulean Gym!
However, judging from the map, reaching Cerulean City wasn't going to be particularly easy.
Between Vermilion City and Cerulean City stood the largest and most prosperous metropolis in the entire Kanto region.
Saffron City!
With its countless towering skyscrapers, Saffron City was famous even beyond Kanto.
And because the city covered such an enormous area, passing directly through it would undoubtedly take quite a bit of time.
Speaking of which, Saffron City actually had two places where Trainers could challenge powerful opponents.
One was the Saffron Gym, led by Sabrina.
The other was the Fighting Dojo, led by Koichi.
However, Itsuki knew perfectly well that his current strength wasn't enough to challenge either of them.
Therefore, rather than recklessly entering Saffron City, he decided to take a detour around it and head straight toward Cerulean City.
He walked at a leisurely pace, occasionally stopping to admire the scenery along the way.
Although traveling like this was somewhat tiring, it was also a good way to train his body.
After spending most of the day on the road, he finally managed to make his way around Saffron City.
And just as he was passing through a wide stretch of grassland...
A certain Pokémon caught his attention.
It was a small, fox-like creature standing in the grass.
Most of its fur was brown, and it had a large, fluffy tail.
Its legs were short and slender, while its brown eyes, tiny black nose, and long rabbit-like ears gave it an incredibly adorable appearance.
'Wait... Isn't that a wild Eevee?!'
Without hesitation, he took out his Pokédex and pointed it toward the Pokémon.
The device quickly responded.
"Beep! Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. Normal-type. A Pokémon possessing the potential to evolve into multiple different forms!"
That was it.
Just one short description, without even any detailed information.
But Itsuki didn't particularly care.
Ever since setting out, he had encountered plenty of wild Pokémon along the way.
However, not a single one had made him feel like catching it.
Until now.
Because standing right in front of him was an Eevee!
'Now that I've found one, there's no way I'm letting this opportunity slip away!'
"Bulbasaur, you're up!"
At Itsuki's command, Bulbasaur let out a cry.
It immediately charged forward on all fours, rushing toward Eevee with an imposing air before taking up a battle stance.
"Bulba! Bulbasaur!"
It barked twice at Eevee.
Judging from its tone, Bulbasaur seemed to be deliberately provoking its opponent.
However, upon seeing Bulbasaur, Eevee showed absolutely no intention of running away.
Instead, it let out an excited cry of its own!
Then, moving all four legs, it actually launched the first attack!
"Oh? Now that's interesting."
Seeing this, Itsuki's eyes lit up.
"You're not afraid of humans, huh?"
"And you're willing to attack first..."
He looked at Eevee's tail, which had perked up excitedly.
"You're even wagging your tail like you're enjoying this!"
A smile slowly spread across his face.
"Looks like you've got quite the battle-loving personality!"