Chapter 18: Pidgey? No!

Just as Huo La was about to let Bulbasaur seize the Water Stone, the system's cold mechanical voice rang in his mind again: "Detected Ash's Pidgey, triggering task selection."

"Task selection?"

Huo La's raised foot suddenly halted, his brows slightly furrowed. This was the system's first time offering a selectable task, which was indeed odd.

The system's prompt sound followed immediately, and the new task with two options clearly surfaced in his mind:

"Publish Task:

Task Type: Temporary Task

Task Content: Capture Ash's Pidgey

Task Time Limit: None

Task Reward:

Option One: Accept the task 'Capture Ash's Pidgey', with a half‑hour time limit, and the reward is 'Ash's Pidgey'.

Option Two: Decline the task, with no reward.

Huo La stared at the two options, his mind full of doubt.

Since completing the "Obtain Weedle Egg" task, the system's operation has become increasingly strange: when battling Red, a defeat yields the "Battle Will Amplification" achievement, completely overturning conventional reward logic.

Now this task is even more absurd.

The task objective and reward are identical, as if forcibly set merely to "publish a task", with no rationality whatsoever.

"System, mark the location of Ash's Pidgey," he decided to see the target clearly before deciding.

"Command received." As the system responded, among the Pidgeys in the melee, one suddenly emitted a faint glowing cursor.

Huo La's gaze instantly locked onto it, and the Attribute Panel unfolded.

Pokemon: Pidgey

Gender: Female

Level: Lv18

Su Xing: C

Status: Healthy

Nature: Conservative

Attribute: Normal/Flying

Ability: Keen Eye (Accuracy changes cannot be reduced by any means, ignoring any increase in the target's evasion ability.)

Height: 1.1 m

Weight: 29.8 kg

Carried Item: Appletun Berry

Moves: Tackle (33% mastery), Sand Attack (74% mastery), Gust (21% mastery)

Improvement Count: 0

After reviewing the panel, Huo La's doubts deepened.

This Pidgey has average Su Xing, uneven move mastery, and crucially an Improvement Count of 0, leaving virtually no growth potential. Such a Pokemon isn't worth the risk of being caught amid the melee.

"System, is there any penalty for choosing to decline the task?" he asked again.

"Retrieving rules... Declining the task incurs no penalty."

"Then I'll decline," Huo La said without hesitation.

For him, the reason to abandon the task went beyond the Pidgey's low potential: in Ash's growth trajectory, this Pidgey might hold special significance. Even a brief companionship is part of Ash's path to becoming a top Trainer.

Moreover, this Pidgey shouldn't be here; if he captured it, it could butterfly‑effect alter Ash's development rhythm.

And Huo La kept a lingering resolve: he wanted to face a fully grown Ash in an upright, peak showdown, not gain advantage by altering the opponent's path.

Furthermore, although he hasn't fully figured out what kind of Trainer he wants to be, the baseline of "no shortcuts, stay true to oneself" has become clearer. Capturing another's partner and accepting such illogical "task charity" clearly conflicts with his envisioned Trainer prototype.

As soon as the decline‑task tone faded, Huo La refocused his attention on the melee in the clearing.

At this moment, Chatot and Beedrill had battered each other badly; Chatot's wing was pierced by a Poison Needle, and one of Beedrill's compound eyes was pecked open and bleeding; the first‑ and second‑stage Pokemon on both sides suffered heavy casualties, Pidgey feathers littered the ground, and Butterfree's wings were riddled with peck holes.

"Now!" Huo La shouted low, gesturing "action" toward Bulbasaur, then burst out of the grass and stood straight in the center of the clearing.

The sudden appearance of a human made both sides of the melee freeze instantly.

Whether it was the wing‑drooping Chatot or the blood‑stained Beedrill, both stared warily at Huo La, still assuming defensive stances despite their injuries.

Huo La suppressed his nervousness, his eyes flicking over the Bug Type camp; Scizor crouched behind a few Metapods, having only charged at the start and otherwise just "treading water," its body unscathed, which let him breathe a sigh of relief.

Just as all Pokemon's attention focused on Huo La, a verdant Vine Whip silently emerged from behind a rock at the clearing's edge.

Bulbasaur, using the rock as cover, slowly extended its Vine Whip toward the Water Stone in the crevice. The Vine Whip precisely coiled around one end of the Water Stone, gently pulling it toward the grass without a sound.

"Whoa, so many injured Pokemon! This is a big payday!" Huo La suddenly raised his voice, deliberately acting greedy, while reaching for the Pokeball at his waist as if ready to release a Pokemon to capture them.

The remark utterly enraged the already‑alert Beedrill; it flapped its wings, aimed its two stingers at Huo La, and "whoosh" launched a string of tiny Poison Needles!

Huo La was prepared, quickly rolling to the side; the Poison Needle struck the ground, emitting a thin white smoke.

His peripheral vision caught Bulbasaur already dragging the Water Stone into the grass, and he instantly wore a terrified expression, shouting, "How scary! Why is it actually taking action!"

After saying that, he turned and ran toward the deep forest.

Beedrill watched his frantic retreat, only emitting a dissatisfied "buzz," but did not pursue. In its view, a rookie Trainer who cowers at the first attack isn't worth the effort.

Beedrill kept its eyes on Huo La's fleeing silhouette, treating it as just another scared rookie Trainer, paying it no mind.

Rather than chasing a coward, guarding against the ever‑watchful Chatot nearby and securing this territory that holds an Evolution Stone was clearly more important.

Hovering mid‑air, it was about to signal its Bug Type allies to clean up the battlefield when its gaze unintentionally swept over the rock crevice at the clearing's center—where the Water Stone had been embedded, now empty, the verdant glint completely vanished.

"Bzz—!" Beedrill instantly bristled, its two pairs of wings thrashing wildly, emitting a harsh screech.

It snapped its head, glaring viciously at the nearby Chatot, a deep eerie blue flashing on its stingers— in its view, aside from these rivals, no one else would dare steal the Evolution Stone at this moment.

Chatot had been lowering its head to soothe the injured Pidgey; hearing Beedrill's roar, it looked up in confusion.

When it saw the empty rock crevice, it instantly understood something, immediately lifted its head, let out a sharp cry, its wings beating up a gale, clearly refuting the Giant Needle Bee's accusation.

But the angry Giant Needle Bee gave it no chance to explain—it swooped down violently, two Poison Needles straight into the Large-beaked Bird's eyes! The Large-beaked Bird hurriedly turned to dodge, its sharp beak then pecked at the Giant Needle Bee's wing; the battle that had already calmed, because of the Water Stone's disappearance, was reignited!

"Cheep—!" "Buzz—!" The two leaders' renewed clash instantly ignited the anger of the Pokemon on both sides.

And the Iron-shell Insect, curled up behind, took advantage of the chaos, slowly wriggling its body, quietly slipping toward the grass.