“Heh heh!”
Ash chuckled as Meowth hopped into the air from the pain, then he looked at the Squirtle that were surrounding them.
“Squirtle, listen up, all of you have been deceived by Meowth! Those two Team Rockets members are not Meowth's subordinates at all. They must have some kind of conspiracy!”
Seeing the troublesome Meowth driven away, Ash turned around and earnestly tried to persuade the Squirtle. After all, those Team Rockets members were not good people.
Although he didn't know what Meowth and the Squirtle had discussed, it surely wasn't anything good.
“Squirtle.”
Squirtle Boss just nodded slightly. He wasn't deaf, and besides, they only played tricks on people; they would never do anything to harm them.
If they really harmed people, how could they still exist today?
They were still playing along now only because the current Shinny Kirlia Boss wanted to see what tricks they were planning.
“You're so annoying!!”
Meowth, enraged, wanted to strike Ash. He not only wanted to sabotage their plan, but he even bit his, Meowth's, tail! Truly deserving of death!!
Thinking this, Meowth extended his claws and fiercely swiped at Ash's face.
Ash was already prepared to close his eyes and accept his fate, but to his surprise, the pain he expected never came. He couldn't help but secretly open one eye, wanting to see what was happening.
“What's going on, Meow?”
Meowth tried hard to swing his claws down, but it was as if a force was holding him back, preventing him from delivering the blow.
“Pop!”
Shinny Kirlia snapped her fingers, stopping Meowth's action, then propped her hand on her slightly reddened cheek, looking lazily at Meowth.
“Kirlia? (Did I not say that harming humans is not allowed?)”
Shinny Kirlia's face was flushed, and she exhaled warm air, looking somewhat lazily at Meowth, who was about to strike. A hint of coldness flickered in her orange-gem-like eyes.
If he didn't act, she could still play along with them, but if he did, he shouldn't blame her for flipping the chessboard and refusing to play.
“How could that be, Meow!”
Even though Meowth was filled with rage, he could only smile at Shinny Kirlia. If he let out his anger, who knew what would happen?
It wasn't time to turn hostile yet. Once Kojiro and Musashi brought back their weapons, he would definitely catch all of them.
Although he thought this, Meowth still said with a fawning smile: “Humans' words cannot be trusted, Meow!”
“Kirlia! (I have my own plans. You should think carefully about what you're going to do.)”
Shinny Kirlia waved her hand. It was better to spend some quality time with her Trainer now. Since leaving the forest, they had seen each other less and less.
“Squirtle, Squirtle!”
The Squirtle echoed their Boss's words. After all, it was only natural to listen to whoever was the Boss.
“Hey, you guys, Pikachu seems to be in a very bad condition.”
Takeshi suddenly noticed that Pikachu's condition was very poor.
It wasn't surprising. Normally, being injured and then recalled into a Poké Ball would effectively alleviate the worsening of the injury, but Pikachu himself didn't seem to want to go in.
Coupled with the fact that Pikachu hadn't received any treatment, in just a few short hours, Pikachu's condition had worsened.
“If we don't treat him with medicine now, he might die from his injuries.”
Xiao Xia also looked at Pikachu's condition with some concern. Judging by the situation, if Pikachu wasn't given medicine soon, something serious might really happen.
“But we don't have any medicine on hand right now?”
When it came to the issue of medicine, Ash became troubled. It wasn't that they didn't have medicine; it was just that during the previous attack, their medicine had been left behind.
They truly had no medicine here. A clever housewife cannot cook without rice.
“We can only go to the store in town to buy some.”
Yu Teng Sheng Dai proposed a solution that wasn't really a solution. After all, they didn't know where they were right now, but judging by the Squirtle's actions, they shouldn't be too far from the town they were just in.
“How can this be!” Ash was a bit helpless. Given the current situation, could they really go to town to buy medicine? Then, as if remembering something, he looked at the Squirtle with a pleading expression: “Squirtle, please, can we go to town? Otherwise, Pikachu will die if this continues.”
Hearing Ash's words, Squirtle glanced at Shinny Kirlia, who was sitting on Yu Feng, slowly trembling with a slightly flushed face and closed eyes. He saw that she had no reaction, meaning he should handle it himself.
Then he turned to Ash and shook his head. As an abandoned Pokémon, he didn't believe Ash would go to town to save Pikachu.
It was probably just an opportunity to abandon Pikachu and escape himself.
“He said you're planning to escape yourselves, didn't he?”
Although Meowth really didn't want to translate, he was the only one present who could communicate with both sides, so he reluctantly took on the role of translator.
“We would never do such a thing! We will definitely come back after buying the medicine. I promise, please!”
Although Ash didn't understand why Squirtle was unwilling to let them go buy medicine, for Pikachu's sake, he still wanted to plead with them again.
“Squirtle, Squirtle.”
Squirtle's attitude was very serious. In short, he didn't believe that anyone would be willing to beg them for a Pokémon.
“He said you are untrustworthy.”
Meowth continued to translate Squirtle's words for Ash.
“Please, please, I'm begging you.”
Ash hadn't expected the Squirtle to be so stubborn, but when he thought of Pikachu leaving him due to severe injuries, Ash couldn't help but shed sad tears.
Looking at the tears dripping onto the ground, and then at the dying Pikachu nearby, Squirtle Boss fell into deep thought.
Although he had always refused to believe that any human would shed tears to save a Pokémon, this time he wanted to try trusting the genuinely emotional young man in front of him.
“Kirlia! (Untie him, let him go buy medicine.)”
Shinny Kirlia also looked at Ash as if she had seen a rare animal. She could feel Ash's sincere emotions.
And... if she didn't let go, her older brother behind her was about to step in and teach her a lesson.
Hearing this, the Squirtle subordinate untied Ash from the ropes.
“Squirtle, Squirtle!”
Squirtle pointed to Xiao Xia behind them and spoke to Ash very seriously.
“He said if you don't return by noon tomorrow as promised, he will execute this woman, Meow!”
Meowth also pointed at Xiao Xia, repeating Squirtle's words verbatim.
This enraged Xiao Xia, who was tied up behind them. Even though she knew nothing would happen with Yu Feng there, saying such things really made it hard not to get angry!!!
