Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

"It is not well adapted to being out of water for long periods of time, and it is not as easy to move on land as starfish, so I rarely release it."

Xiao Gang bent down and carefully examined the goldfish's scales, eyes, and condition, quickly drawing a conclusion.

"It's nothing serious, just a little dry and uncomfortable because it hasn't been in water for a while. Let it stay in the water a bit longer and it'll recover..."

"I'll do it—!"

Ash's emotional intelligence immediately skyrockets when Pokémon is mentioned.

Quickly fetch a basin filled with clean water.

The goldfish enters the water.

Sure enough, it immediately perked up and happily blew bubbles at Ash.

Xiaoxia's heart tightened.

not good!

My goldfish!

They subtly separated Ash and Goldeen.

Before she could thank Xiao Gang, the Poké Ball suddenly flashed red.

The starfish came out on its own.

Then, with a standard leap of faith, he plunged into the basin of water with a splash.

It lazily sank to the bottom of the water.

The gems on its body sparkled.

Although not as comfortable as seawater, the clean water is enough to make it feel relaxed.

Xiaoxia's lips twitched slightly; she felt somewhat helpless towards this guy who liked to run away on her own.

"Wait!"

With his exceptional emotional intelligence, Xiao Zhi took out another basin filled with water and then added some salt.

The starfish immediately jumped in.

"how do you feel?"

The starfish stretched out its arms comfortably, then extended a tentacle, seemingly giving a thumbs-up.

It still has to be the eldest brother!

Some people are just unreliable!

Although table salt cannot compare to sea salt.

But since it was the eldest brother who put it there, that's good!

Xiaoxia's gaze gradually turned hostile.

Xiao Gang immediately stepped in to smooth things over.

"Ahem, Ash, you can also release your other Pokémon, and I'll take a look."

Ash nodded and released his Caterpie.

"You little green caterpillar..." Xiao Gang examined the unusually plump green caterpillar for a while, then frowned. "Hiss...this shouldn't be happening..."

Xiao Zhi immediately tensed up.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?!"

"grumble?!"

Caterpie also shrank back to Ash in fear.

No, it's not a health issue.

Xiao Gang voiced his doubts.

"Judging from its size, color, and vitality, it should have evolved long ago... Ash, how long have you had it?"

"About a month."

Xiao Zhi recalled.

"A month?!"

Wu Neng and Xiao Xia then noticed something was wrong.

They were all initially drawn to Ash and Pikachu's incredible training intensity.

They completely ignored the green caterpillar that always loved to spin silk and bask in the sun.

"Could there really be some developmental problem?"

"A regular Caterpie only needs a month to evolve into a Butterfree!"

"Oh, what did you mean? Oh, this is what you meant," Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not Caterpie that's the problem."

"I talked to it, and it said it doesn't like the immobile form of Metapod, so it wants to hold its breath and evolve directly into Butterfree!"

"grumble!"

The green caterpillar nodded vigorously.

It is born to love freedom and will never be trapped in a pupa!

Xiao Gang: "......"

Xiaoxia: "......"

Wu Neng: "..."

The three of them were speechless for a moment.

It just goes to show that Ash is truly unique; even the Pokémon he has are so... unconventional.

In the midst of this slightly awkward silence, the starfish, having soaked enough in the water, swaggered ashore, leaving winding water trails on the stone path with its tentacles.

It sidled up to Xia's leg with practiced ease, raised its wet wrists and feet, and lightly patted the Poké Ball at her waist.

"Snapped."

The ball cover remained completely still.

The gem in the center of the starfish flickered, seemingly somewhat confused.

It took half a step back, its entire star tensed, and leaped up suddenly as if gathering strength—

"Snapped!"

This time the force was considerable, and the ball cover bounced open.

A beam of red light shot out, but that familiar feeling did not come.

Instead, a deafening, violent roar exploded like thunder!

"roar--!!!!!"

As the red light faded, a colossal creature, resembling both a dragon and a fish, suddenly appeared and coiled in the center of the courtyard.

The blue scales gleamed with a cold, hard sheen in the sunlight, its head and horns were prominent, and the "宏"-shaped deck on its back looked majestic and ferocious.

Those scarlet eyes scanned the surroundings, churning with an almost tangible rage.

It's Gyarados!

The starfish was so frightened that it instantly curled up into a ball, and even the gem in its center seemed to dim slightly.

Oh no! It just wanted to go back inside the ball to rest, how did it let this grumpy old guy out!

Gyarados's crimson pupils locked onto the group of people in the courtyard.

There were no unnecessary movements.

The gigantic maw suddenly opened, and terrifying white energy instantly gathered and compressed!

He unleashed a powerful attack right from the start!

Both Xiao Gangwu and Wu Neng were shocked, never expecting that Xiaoxia had such a Pokémon hidden away!

"It's a Destruction Ray!"

"Scatter!"

The experienced Wu Neng reacted quickly and immediately stopped the children, taking out a Poké Ball.

Hearing the screams of the crowd, Gyarados's eyes turned even redder!

The energy sphere in its throat expanded rapidly, and it looked like it was about to burst out.

"roar--!!!!!"

I have been imprisoned... for ten thousand years!

You dare to trespass into my sight now! You're courting death...!

"boom!"

A crisp, muffled thud.

Ash had somehow appeared beside Gyarados.

With lightning speed, his right hand delivered a solid slap to Gyarados's cheek, abruptly interrupting its energy buildup!

Smash it directly onto the ground!

"what?"

Ash shook his hand, looking puzzled, as he saw the Gyarados lying on the ground.

"Didn't you say it would last ten thousand years? How come it collapsed so soon?"

"Touch porcelain?"

22. A dragon should not be insulted!

Ash scratched his head as he looked at the fallen Gyarados.