Everything happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that even Chen Mo didn't react in time.
By the time he snapped back to his senses, Sawsbuck and the Deerling were already far away. Only that yellow figure remained, lying on the ground not far ahead.
"Looks like… something went wrong."
Chen Mo had naturally recognized the Pokémon that had been sent flying by Sawsbuck.
An oval-shaped body, plug-like horns, yellow skin all over, and a lightning-bolt pattern formed by black markings on its belly.
"No doubt about it—it's an Elekid."
[Elekid? That should be an Electric-type Pokémon, right?]
[Duh. Didn't you see it attack Sawsbuck just now? All that crackling electricity—if that's not Electric-type, what is?]
[Come to think of it, aside from Pichu, this should be the second Electric-type Pokémon we've seen, right? Elekid—kind of curious about it.]
Glancing at the chat, Chen Mo spoke quickly.
"Elekid is a relatively rare Electric-type Pokémon. It's indeed hard to encounter them in the wild under normal circumstances. They usually live deep in the mountains and become active during thunderstorms. Whenever there's thunder, Elekid can't suppress their excitement and will run out to play."
"If you ever hear what sounds like children laughing and playing in the mountains during a storm, don't think it's something supernatural—that's probably just Elekid having fun."
"Of course, sometimes Elekid will sneak into nearby homes to look for power outlets so they can absorb electricity. For Elekid that are still in their juvenile stage, household sockets are basically baby bottles—they can happily suck up large amounts of electricity from them. This often leads to families later discovering that, despite not using much power, their electricity bills have suddenly skyrocketed."
As Chen Mo explained, Pichu stared curiously at the Elekid lying on the ground in the distance.
As a fellow Electric-type Pokémon, it was naturally interested.
"Pichu."
"You're worried about Elekid and want to go check on it?"
Chen Mo hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he nodded and agreed to Pichu's request.
Earlier, he had already used Detective's Eye on Elekid. Because of Sawsbuck's counterattack, Elekid had indeed suffered very serious injuries.
One had to know—Sawsbuck's hind-leg kick was incredibly powerful. Even without using any moves, relying purely on physical strength, it could dent and bend solid steel plates with a single kick.
For Elekid to take that blow head-on and be fine would have been impossible.
Looking at the unconscious Elekid, Chen Mo felt rather helpless inside.
After all, counting Natu from earlier, this was already the second Pokémon they had encountered today that had fainted right in front of them.
Of course—
If they were to compare how they fainted, Natu still took the crown. At least Elekid had been knocked out by another Pokémon, not by its own antics.
"Brother Mo, why did Elekid suddenly attack Sawsbuck?"
Ah Hui looked at Chen Mo, who was lifting Elekid up, clearly puzzled.
"Do those two have some kind of grudge?"
"I don't know. There isn't any known species-level hostility between Sawsbuck and Elekid, like the rivalry between Pidgey and Spearow. So why Elekid suddenly attacked Sawsbuck… honestly, I don't understand either."
Precisely because he didn't understand, Chen Mo had hesitated when Pichu made its request.
This Elekid wasn't ordinary. From the information returned by Detective's Eye, it didn't just know Thunder Shock, a move most young Electric-types could use—it also knew Thunder Punch and Discharge, both higher-level Electric-type moves.
On top of that, it was still in its juvenile stage. It could absolutely be described as having enormous potential and a bright future.
But despite that, Chen Mo didn't feel particularly fond of this Elekid—especially after witnessing it suddenly attack Sawsbuck.
"It feels like it'll bring a lot of trouble…"
Still, since he had already agreed to Pichu, Chen Mo wasn't going to go back on his word.
After all, with Pidgeotto around, even if there was some disadvantage in typing, dealing with a still-growing Elekid wouldn't be an issue at all.
So he wasn't worried about Elekid causing trouble after waking up.
When they returned to the off-road vehicle—
The other Pokémon they had picked up earlier, Natu, was already awake. It was now standing on the roof of the vehicle, watching Chen Mo and the others as they came back.
Well…
More accurately, it was watching a certain man carrying a camera.
"Yo, Natu—you're awake."
Ah Hui greeted it in a friendly manner.
But Natu merely gave Ah Hui a cursory glance before quickly shifting its attention elsewhere.
Seeing this, Ah Hui turned to the cameraman behind him.
"Brother Yi, looks like it's more interested in you. Even after waking up, it didn't leave and stayed here waiting for you. You two… seem pretty fated."
"..."
Brother Yi remained silent.
Seeing this, Natu hopped down from the vehicle. This time it had learned its lesson—rather than lunging at Brother Yi, it simply hopped over, step by step, until it was right beside him.
From then on, no matter where Brother Yi went, Natu followed closely, keeping a distance of about half a meter.
Chen Mo, while applying healing spray to Elekid, watched this scene with great interest.
He had a feeling that as long as Brother Yi refused to have another "duel" with Natu, Natu would continue following him around like this.
So… did this count as Brother Yi "capturing" Natu in a rather unconventional way?
Interesting.
Chen Mo smiled.
"Brother Mo, are you done over there? Come help set up the tent!"
Ah Hui's cheerful voice called out from afar.
Seeing that Elekid's injuries were more or less treated, Chen Mo responded, found a blanket, and laid Elekid on it.
He didn't dare put it directly in the vehicle like he had with Natu.
After all, if something happened and the off-road vehicle malfunctioned, the days ahead would become very troublesome.
Better safe than sorry.
"Let's go, Pichu. Let's help set up the tent."
"Pichu~"
Pichu responded from Chen Mo's shoulder, then turned its head to glance back at Elekid lying on the blanket.
"Alright! Everyone's here! Brother Yi, fix the camera in place and come help with the tent too. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can start making lunch."
"Mm."
Under the bright sunlight on the open grassland, the three of them began setting up the tent—completely unaware that a purple-black figure had quietly emerged from the shadow beneath the off-road vehicle.
It glanced at them, then let out a mischievous chuckle as it floated toward the tree line, drifting toward the Elekid sleeping peacefully under the shade.
"Ke-ke-ke~!"
Looking at the Elekid, clearly deep in sleep, the purple-black figure's grin grew even wider.
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