"What's wrong?"
The sudden change caught Dawn a little off guard.
She originally thought Pikachu was going to attack, but she didn't expect an attack from behind to relieve the pressure on Pikachu.
The Ariados, who thought they had victory within their grasp, scattered like frightened birds and animals, quickly fleeing the scene.
Although the Ariados weren't particularly timid Pokémon, they were all smart.
They had already tried their best when facing Aipom and Pikachu.
Based on this, the other side also had reinforcements, so the Ariados knew they were no match and retreated decisively.
"How realistic, these guys..."
Ash couldn't help but complain as he watched the Ariados flee in a hurry in the fog.
But this is what they call reality.
While Ash was complaining about the Ariados' Run Away behavior, Dawn breathed a sigh of relief and said with a hint of good fortune, "Whew~ Thankfully nothing happened... By the way, who was helping us just now? Was it Brock?"
Dawn didn't seem to hear Piplup's Growl in the chaos, and thought Brock had come to help them, but—
"It's not Brock, Brock doesn't carry any Water-type Pokémon."
"Huh? It's not? Then who exactly is it..."
Just as Dawn was wondering about the identity of the mysterious person who helped them, a short, chubby figure finally emerged from the thick fog.
It raised its head high, its eyes full of pride and unruliness, like a young master who walked out of some novel.
Under Dawn's gaze, it slowly came in front of her, crossed its arms, and closed its eyes, saying: "Piplup!"
Dawn: "..."
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
Dawn looked at Piplup, then at Ash, and finally, under their puzzled gazes, she slowly squatted down, stretched out her hands towards Piplup, and then grabbed it.
"Ash! I caught the Piplup that Run Away!"
Ash: "..."
Piplup: "??!!"
Ash's and Piplup's expressions perfectly showed their completely different moods right now.
Ash was holding back a laugh.
Also, Piplup was holding back a burst of anger.
"Piplup!!"
"Hahaha!"
Piplup couldn't help but break free from Dawn's arms first, then frantically started to Peck Dawn, while Ash laughed on the side.
He never expected Dawn to make such an airheaded move on this occasion, and 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.
"Eh?! Why are you Pecking me?! It hurts! Waa~ Ash, what are you laughing at? Come and help me!!!"
The Forest was immediately filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
"So... Piplup was the one who helped Pikachu just now..."
"Poliwag!"
Piplup puffed out its chest again, looking proud and smug.
Dawn felt that this look was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't say why.
"Well, if it weren't for Piplup's help, Pikachu using Electric-type moves could have affected us, so in that sense, we all have to thank Piplup."
"Piplup Piplup!"
Piplup nodded repeatedly in agreement with Ash's statement.
It was the one who saved people from the water just now, but somehow this seemingly not-so-smart human girl in front of it grabbed it, as if it were some kind of fugitive, which is why it sanctioned Dawn's impolite behavior.
"Really... if that's the case, I was indeed rude just now... I'm sorry, Piplup."
"Piplup~~"
Piplup's nodding speed began to slow down, like an old man affirming the younger generation.
But, Piplup's profound appearance did not last long.
In less than ten seconds, its body began to sway.
"Are you okay?"
Seeing this, Dawn quickly squatted down and caught Piplup, who was about to fall to the ground.
Piplup was now drooping its head, not even having the strength to make a sound, 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, and for a moment she didn't
react and just responded strangely.
"I said Piplup is fine, it's probably just too hungry to have any strength."
"But how would you kn..."
"Goo~~~"
Dawn: "..."
Okay, after hearing this sound, Dawn finally understood why Ash knew Piplup had fainted from hunger.
"Speaking of which, even if you didn't hear Piplup's stomach growling, you should have heard what the researchers said, right? Piplup ran away before finishing its lunch, it must be hungry after running all the way here from the Pokémon Lab, right?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I didn't listen properly..."
Dawn knew she was in the wrong, so she hurriedly started apologizing again, but Ash didn't seem to care much, of course, he wasn't directly treated as a criminal like Piplup.
"In any case, Dawn, you should feed it first, just consider it compensation, right?"
Ash said with a smile, then planned to take some Pokémon food out of his backpack, but when he turned around, he realized that something seemed to be missing here.
"Hmm?" Ash looked around in confusion, but he couldn't find the figure he was looking for, so he looked down at Pikachu and asked, "Where did Aipom go?"
"Pi?"
Hearing Ash's question, Pikachu originally intended to point to the spot next to it, because in its memory, Aipom was last standing there, but when Pikachu turned its gaze over, where was Aipom? It was completely empty, without anyone or any Pokémon on it.
"This guy..."
Ash covered his head helplessly.
He never expected that Aipom would run off on its own after not keeping an eye on it for such a short time.
"Anyway, I'll leave things here to you for now! I'm going to look for Aipom."
"Huh? Me..."
"Here!"
Dawn: "..."
Dawn looked at the Pokémon food in her hand, momentarily lost.
Speaking of which, is it okay to just stuff it directly into Piplup's mouth?
Dawn pondered.