"What happened?"
The sudden turn of events caught Dawn off guard. She had thought Pikachu was about to attack, but she didn't expect that an attack from behind would relieve the pressure on Pikachu. The Ariados, who had thought they had victory within their grasp, scattered like frightened birds and beasts, quickly fleeing the scene.
Although the Ariados weren't cowardly Pokémon, they were all very intelligent.
They had already tried their best just to face Aipom and Pikachu, and now that the other side had reinforcements, the Ariados knew they were no match and retreated decisively.
"How realistic, those guys..."
Looking at the Ariados scrambling to escape in the fog, Ash couldn't help but complain.
But that's what reality is.
Ash was complaining about the Ariados' behavior of running away, while Dawn let out a long breath and said with a hint of relief, "Phew~ It's a good thing we're okay... By the way, who was helping us just now? Was it Brock?"
Dawn didn't seem to hear Piplup's cry in the chaos, and thought that Brock had come to help them, but—
"It's not Brock, Brock doesn't have any Water-type Pokémon with him."
"Huh? It's not? Then who is it..."
Just as Dawn was wondering about the identity of the mysterious person who helped them, a short and chubby figure finally walked out of the thick fog. It raised its head high, its eyes full of pride and unruliness, like a young master who walked out of a novel.
Under Dawn's gaze, it slowly came to her, crossed its arms, and closed its eyes, saying, "Piplup!"
Dawn: "..."
Time seemed to stand still at this moment. Dawn looked at Piplup, then looked at Ash, and finally, under the two people's questioning eyes, she slowly squatted down, stretched out her hands to Piplup, and then grabbed it.
"Ash! I caught the runaway Piplup!"
Ash: "..."
Piplup: "??!!"
Ash and Piplup's expressions perfectly showed their completely different moods.
Ash was holding back a laugh.
And Piplup was holding back a burst of anger.
"Piplup!!"
"Hahaha!"
Piplup couldn't help but break free from Dawn's arms, and then started pecking Dawn frantically, while Ash laughed on the side. He never thought that Dawn would make such a naturally oblivious move in this situation. He didn't know if her brain short-circuited for a moment or if she thought the mysterious person who helped them wouldn't be Piplup.
"Hey hey hey?! Why are you pecking me?! It hurts! Waa~ Ash, what are you laughing at on the side? Come and help me!!!"
The forest was immediately filled with a lively atmosphere.
....
"So... Piplup was the one who helped Pikachu just now..."
"Piplup!"
Piplup straightened its chest again, looking proud and smug. Dawn felt that this look was a little familiar, but she couldn't say why.
"Yeah, if it wasn't for Piplup's help, Pikachu's Electric-type skills would have likely affected us just now. In this regard, we should all thank Piplup."
"Piplup Piplup!"
Piplup nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Ash's statement.
It was the one who saved people from fire and water just now, but somehow this human girl who didn't seem too smart grabbed it, as if it was some kind of fugitive. That's why it punished Dawn's impolite behavior.
"Is that so... If that's the case, I was indeed rude just now... I'm sorry, Piplup."
"Piplup~~"
Piplup's nodding speed began to slow down, as if an old man was affirming the younger generation. However, Piplup's profound appearance didn't last long. In less than ten seconds, its body began to sway.
"Are you okay?"
Seeing this, Dawn hurriedly squatted down and caught Piplup, who almost fell to the ground. Piplup now had its head drooping, and it didn't even have the strength to speak, looking like it was about to die.
"Ash! Piplup it..."
"It's just hungry."
"Huh?"
Dawn didn't expect to get such an answer from Ash. She was so confused that she responded strangely.
"I said Piplup is fine, it's probably just too hungry to have any strength."
"But how do you know..."
"Grumble~~~"
Dawn: "..."
Alright, after hearing this sound, Dawn finally understood why Ash knew that Piplup had fainted from hunger.
"Speaking of which, even if you didn't hear Piplup's stomach rumbling, you should have heard the researchers say it, right? Piplup ran away before it even finished lunch. It's bound to be hungry running from the lab to here, right?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I didn't listen to people properly..."
Dawn knew she was in the wrong, so she hurriedly apologized again. However, Ash didn't care too much, after all, he wasn't treated like a criminal like Piplup.
"In short, you should feed it first, consider it as compensation, right?"
Ash said with a smile, and then planned to take out some Pokémon food from his backpack, but when he turned around, he realized that something seemed to be missing here.
"Huh?" Ash looked around with a puzzled look, but he couldn't find the figure he was looking for. So he lowered his head and looked at Pikachu, asking, "Where did Aipom go?"
"Pi?"
Hearing Ash ask this, Pikachu was originally planning to point to the position next to it, because in its memory, the last position Aipom stood in was here. But when Pikachu turned its gaze over, where was Aipom? It was completely empty there, without any people or Pokémon.
"This guy..."
Ash covered his head helplessly. He never thought that he just didn't keep an eye on Aipom for such a short time, and Aipom ran away on its own.
"In short, I'll leave this place to you first! I'm going to look for Aipom."
"Huh? I..."
"Here!"
Dawn: "..."
Dawn looked at the Pokémon food in her hand and was at a loss for a moment.
Speaking of which, is it okay to just stuff it into Piplup's mouth?
Dawn pondered this.
...