Chapter 61

Only you can evolve?

Evolve, Larulari!

As Ash finished speaking, everyone was stunned.

What a joke—I evolved because I'm a psychic; you say evolve and it just happens? If you pull this off, I'll lose face!

However,

What left Nana speechless was that the differently colored Larulari suddenly emitted a soft white light.

In the light, the differently colored Larulari shot up from 0.4 meters to 0.8 meters.

Its orange feelers shifted from one front and one back to slanting inserted at both sides of the head, shooting straight up at a 45° angle, and its blue watermelon head turned into long bangs with shoulder-length twin tails.

Its appearance resembled that of a pure maiden.

The differently colored Kirulian and differently colored Sianbu (special correction: the feelers should not be red but orange).

【Pokémon】: Kirulian (♀)

【Type】: Shiny

【Attribute】: Psychic+Fairy

【Ability】: Telepathy 1 (reads ally's attacks and evades their move damage, 30% chance to read enemy's attacks and evade)

【Level】: 20

【Skills】: Sync Interference, Mist Field, Magical Flame, Cry, Telekinesis, Shadow Clone, Instant Teleportation, Charming Voice, Hold, Magical Shine, Meditation, Mental Fortitude,

【Held Item】: Fairy Feather (Fairy-type move power increased 20%)

【IV】: 6v

【Base Stats】: Total 278, HP 38, Attack 35, Defense 35, Sp. Atk 65, Sp. Def 55, Speed 50,

At the same time,

The opposing Meowth also completed its evolution,

Notably,

Meowth varies by gender, and its evolution also differs,

The Meowth Nana captured is female, so its gray fur turned mainly white, ears curled, yellow sclera, red irises, eyes semicircular.

Its build remains a bipedal fighting humanoid, looking like an aloof girl.

【Pokémon】: Esper Meowth (♀)

【Attribute】: Psychic

【Ability】: Pierce

【Level】: 18 (current 25)

【Skills】: Scratch, Stare, High-Five Ambush, Yearning, Telekinesis, Light Wall, Illusion Beam, Magical Leaf, Charge Beam,

【Held Item】: Bent Spoon

【IV】: HP 31, Attack 7, Defense 28, Sp. Atk 31, Sp. Def 24, Speed 30,

【Base Stats】: Total 466, HP 74, Attack 48, Defense 76, Sp. Atk 83, Sp. Def 81, Speed 104,

Directly raising level temporarily to evolve—truly overbearing!

As Ash marveled, he quickly ran through the attribute differences between the two sides in his mind.

Although both evolved, comparing their base stats, Esper Meowth clearly has the greater advantage.

The good news is Ash still has a trick up his sleeve.

"Esper Meowth, Light Wall!"

"Kirulian, Meditate!"

A hexagonal wall surrounded Esper Meowth; during Light Wall's duration, all magical damage is halved,

Fortunately, Ash chose not to attack but to strengthen first.

Red light enveloped Kirulian's body, raising Sp. Atk and Sp. Def by 1 each.

"Again with the pre-read?" Nana's eyes narrowed, "Charge Beam!"

"Hold!"

The golden current and white shield canceled each other, while a red light rose from Esper Meowth's body.

Nana's luck was good; Charge Beam's effect had a 70% chance to trigger +1 Sp. Atk.

"Shadow Clone!"

"Charge Beam!"

Kirulian's figure kept expanding from its main body to both sides, and soon a dozen Kirulians appeared on the field.

The golden current aimed at the original Kirulian, the move missed,

Fortunately, this time it didn't trigger the effect,

"Charge Beam!"

Esper Meowth lacks a boosting move, so repeatedly using Charge Beam to raise odds while suppressing is the best choice.

"Meditate!"

As Ash finished speaking, the dozen Kirulians on the field began meditating together.

Esper Meowth created an afterimage.

During this process, Telepathy 1's pre-read played a huge role; the differently colored Kirulian could even know in advance which copy Esper Meowth intended to attack.

Only when the real body was locked on did the differently colored Kirulian have to dodge and reset the illusion.

In this process, Kirulian was hit only once.

But because Meditation also raised Sp. Def, a Charge Beam with +3 Sp. Atk hitting Kirulian felt like nothing.

On the contrary, Qilulian's status was stacked to the optimum, Special Attack and Special Defense +6,

"Super Cute Cat, Charging Beam!"

"Qilulian, Synchronous Interference!"

Two commands rang out simultaneously, accompanied by the shattering of Super Cute Cat's surrounding Light Wall; the Light Wall's duration has ended!

This time, Qilulian chose to counter head‑on.

On one side, Special Defense +6; on the other, the Light Wall's protection had just vanished.

Moreover, Ash had Qilulian use an inherited move, Synchronous Interference!

Synchronous Interference power 120! The only restriction is that it works only when the target possesses at least one matching attribute.

Coincidentally,

both sides have the Psychic attribute.

The raging Psychic Beam surged forward, collided with the golden‑yellow current, swiftly devoured and suppressed it, and also engulfed the Super Cute Cat itself.

However, although Synchronous Interference is powerful, the opponent is still a Psychic type, resisting Psychic.

Synchronous Interference can crush the Charging Beam, but it cannot inflict effective damage on the Super Cute Cat itself.

Thus, the moment the Super Cute Cat was smashed head‑on, Ash immediately pressed the advantage with a follow‑up attack!

"Magic Shine!"

Pink fairy energy rose from Qilulian's body, forming a beam that shot toward the explosion's center.

Fairy against Psychic deals only the normal 1× damage,

but because Qilulian has the Fairy attribute, it enjoys a 1.5× same‑type bonus, plus an additional 1.2× from Fairy Feather.

Magic Shine successfully dealt a heavy blow to the Super Cute Cat!

"Super Cute Cat, Magic Leaf! Light Wall!"

Nana tried to turn the tide, but Ash would give her no chance.

"Magic Flame!"

As the magic formed a leaf, it flew forward like a blade,

the Magic Flame in front of Qilulian had already formed; the twin flames spun forward, the flames naturally devouring the leaves, extremely efficient,

and also carried away the Super Cute Cat, the lingering candle in the wind, rendering it completely unable to fight.

"I lost…"

A flash of astonishment flickered in Nana's cold eyes,

though it was because she had just captured it and hadn't trained it properly; moreover, worrying about the cat's endurance, she hadn't fully transferred the Psychic power, which led to defeat,

yet Ash didn't even have Psychic power, winning cleanly and decisively,

she clenched her fist in frustration then released it; Nana ultimately accepted the fact that she had come to Carlos and lost the first battle to Ash.

After the loss,

Nana, already naturally aloof, became even colder in gaze and temperament.

Especially as Serena cheered exuberantly,

Nana's mood grew increasingly irritable,

a terrifying low pressure enveloped the entire forest.

By the second‑floor windowsill, the three Musashis who had previously spoken harsh words now trembled in fear and shrank back their heads.

Having promised another duel in the future, Nana retrieved the cat and planned to leave.

Ash used nightfall as an excuse to invite Nana to stay,

but the troubled and confused Nana only wanted to sit quietly and sort out the unprecedented tangled thoughts.

Walking along the path, her steps left no trace of mud, and even the torrential rain falling from the sky failed to leave any mark on Nana.

Seeing Nana depart,

Ash shrugged, not worried that the Psychic Empress Nana would encounter danger,

instead…

Now that Nana lost the match and was clearly in a bad mood, Ash was even more concerned that an unlucky fool might provoke Nana without thinking.

With Latias's help, they returned to the mansion.

The downpour continued, and night had deepened,

the group decided to resume the journey tomorrow.

In the evening, Clemont gathered Team Rocket for a board game; after all, with many people it was lively, and he wasn't a scientist who feared ghosts,

Indeed, under crisis, the two groups got along quite smoothly.

Ash left Latias under Serena's protection, but did not take part himself,

A rainy day is a good opportunity to contemplate and learn rain‑making,

Alone, he went to the first‑floor lobby, released a Rocket Bird and a Croak‑headed Frog, opened the main door, and pointed at the pouring rain outside,

"Sa, try to master rain‑calling!"