Chapter 23: Nervous, Commonly Called Fear!

The little arrow sparrow flew to a higher spot, gathering energy to use Whirlwind Blade.

Rows of wind blades, like rain falling from the sky, scattered toward the Giant Needle Bees and the approaching swarm of Pokémon.

Lurulass lifted its arm slightly.

A transparent magical barrier, like a water surface, instantly appeared before Lurulass; at its edge, two fireballs circled each other, then shot forward and struck a Giant Needle Bee.

The Giant Needle Bee's special defense is 80, double its physical defense of 40, barely withstanding the magical flame.

But that was all.

The second magical flame arrived quickly, instantly taking down the Giant Needle Bee, whose HP was already a flickering candle in the wind.

Serena's Lurulass, though a slightly lower level, could also just manage to take a Giant Needle Bee with two hits.

The cute fire fox opened its mouth and spewed scorching sparks in attack!

Although the sparks were not as powerful as the magical flame,

the fire fox, being a fire‑type Pokémon, handled fire with ease and, with its type bonus, could also take a Giant Needle Bee in two hits.

All three little creatures were controlling fire, and the Giant Needle Bees instinctively resisted contacting them,

causing more Giant Needle Bees to bypass the three and head straight toward Clemont.

Silver twin needles flashed with a terrifying cold light,

targeted by a swarm of Giant Needle Bees, Clemont was startled, instinctively tossed the device from his hand, and hurriedly pulled a Poké Ball from his waist to save himself.

It is worth mentioning the differences between reality and anime,

for example, Gym battles determine the strength of the Pokémon sent out based on the number of badges held; and each day multiple Trainers may come to challenge for these two reasons;

These two points cause every Gym Trainer to maintain ample, multi‑tier Pokémon reserves.

Each Gym Trainer needs to capture about ten Pokémon of the same type, amounting to nearly a hundred across all types.

With such a large reserve, Clemont actually brought a level‑50 Electro Umbrella Lizard on this outing for self‑defense.

Facing the life‑threatening situation, Clemont immediately sent out the stronger Electro Umbrella Lizard!

"Electro Umbrella Lizard! Parabolic charging!"

A red storage beam shot out,

Soon, a one‑meter‑tall electric lizard with yellow skin, a black cloak draped over its head, appeared before everyone.

I was about to sit and watch the Giant Needle Bees struggle to attack the battered Latias behind the psychic barrier.

?

Would rather trust the Giant Needle Bees' twin needles than believe in my own second‑rank godly psychic barrier?!

The puffed‑up Dragon Girl immediately pouted in anger, shaking the jet‑engine‑like wings on her back up and down,

Latias: I got a little heated in the heat of the moment,

but Latias forgot,

just now was busy informing Ash and never told Clemont at all.

Meanwhile, the scarf around the Electro Umbrella Lizard's neck had risen from its skin‑tight state, looking like a sunflower from the front,

golden electric currents converged at the edge of its scarf and met in the air above its forehead,

forming a powerful electric stream that shot forward!

Zilala!

The golden current landed on Latias's barrier, failing to pierce it and instead spreading inside the barrier,

fortunately, Latias promptly added a layer of Psychic Membrane, isolating the current and preventing everyone from being electrocuted.

Outside,

the Giant Needle Bees finally made contact with Latias's Psychic Barrier,

yet even Clemont's ace, the Electro Umbrella Lizard, could not budge Latias's barrier in the slightest,

so the mere Giant Needle Bees were even less capable,

seeing this while Clemont leaned back, hands clasped over his head in the Golden Rooster Standing Alone pose, he finally recalled,

that it seemed Latias was also there, protecting them,

"Ah, what?!"

He quietly lowered his hands and lifted his left foot, met Ash's scrutinizing gaze, and awkwardly scratched his head,

pointed toward the front where the Giant Needle Bees were still persistently trying to break through the barrier,

"Just… I couldn't see the barrier earlier, and there were too many Giant Needle Bees; I… I got nervous, commonly called being scared…"

Clemont stammered,

"But fortunately, the device is fine."

Changing the subject,

when he mentioned the device that Latias had caught with Psychic power, Clemont's shame vanished, and his face showed relief and pride.

Ash nodded, seemingly acknowledging Clemont's topic shift, and asked, "So… what's the story with this Electro Umbrella Lizard?"

Yurie covered her face, thinking, "We're doomed, it's about to be exposed…"

Clemont, unaware, instinctively said,

"Well, as a Trainer, having a 【Electric+Normal】 type Pokémon is perfectly normal, right?"

Just as Yurie thought the siblings' hidden Gym Leader identities would be revealed the next second,

Ash nodded, "A Trainer having Pokémon is quite reasonable!"

"Re…ally believed?"

Yurie could hardly believe her own ears.

Serena nodded in realization,

"Oh, I see, Clemont besides having a Digging Rabbit also has a Photoelectric Umbrella Lizard; why didn't you say so earlier!"

"The speaker meant nothing, but the listener took it seriously."

"After being reminded by Se Mei, Clemont, who was slow to react, finally realized that this was not a time just for the two siblings."

"Hiss!"

"A Trainer who just set out really shouldn't have such a powerful Photoelectric Umbrella Lizard."

"The good news is that the Photoelectric Umbrella Lizard's attack failed, it couldn't create any impressive battle record, and was captured by Latias."

"Furthermore, the Umbrella Electric Lizard evolving into a Photoelectric Umbrella Lizard has no level restriction."

"As long as there is a Sun Stone, even level 1 can evolve."

"Ash probably believed this because of that, right?"

"In any case, after the danger passed, Clemont didn't dare let the Photoelectric Umbrella Lizard stay outside for long, and quickly took it back."

"The battle outside continued."

"By then, many spirits on the ground had entered a feigned death state."

"Besides the battle, Ash did not intend to harm the lives of these wild spirits."

"Thus he arranged for Latias to use Healing Wave to heal these spirits."

"After waking, some spirits ran away, while others stayed behind to continue charging!"

"If spirits like the Croaking Bubble Frog run out of stamina, they should be withdrawn promptly."

"By consuming Energy Blocks, Moo Moo Fresh Milk plus Latias's Healing Wave, stamina consumption is promptly replenished."

"Repeating this several times, it goes on in a cycle."

"When several spirits' muscles were sore and they really couldn't hold on, Ash decisively chose a strategic retreat."

"……"

"Returning to the camp,"

"Ash, relying on Xiao Gang's past teaching experience, massaged the bodies of several spirits to relax them."

"Se Mei followed alongside, learning by imitation."

"Not only could she learn new knowledge, but she could also be alone with Ash, making Se Mei very happy."

"Clemont, meanwhile, made improvements to the machine in this process."

"The reason was that Ash suggested adding a new frequency band."

"This can be roughly understood as a high frequency responsible for attracting spirits over."

"The other is a low frequency, which, while ensuring that the attracted spirits do not leave, reduces the attraction effect as much as possible."

"After resting for half an hour,"

"The belligerent Croaking Bubble Frog voluntarily requested a battle, and the Shiny Lurantis expressed agreement."

"But other spirits, especially the Little Arrow Bird that needs to constantly flap its wings to fly after battle, expressed strong opposition!"

"The Croaking Bubble Frog's proposal was not approved."

"After an hour, the Croaking Bubble Frog made the proposal again, and this time it passed unanimously."

"The battle continued."

"This time Ash had Latias change locations, after all it wouldn't do to fiercely exploit the wild spirits in one place."

"Thus the cycle repeats!"

"It continued until dusk, when the sky grew dark, and Ash's party finally stopped battling."

"……"

"Returning to the camp,"

"As the sky darkened, Clemont took out some lighting fixtures from his past inventions to provide illumination."

"He lit up the riverside grass as bright as daytime."

"Finding an open area, Clemont began maintaining the equipment."

"Se Mei, who had the air of a capable wife and mother, voluntarily took on the cooking task, seriously processing the ingredients by the riverbank."

"Ash, meanwhile, was with Yurie and a host of spirits assisting on the side."

"He also took the opportunity to tally today's specific harvest."