Looking at the extremely angry, electricity-ready electric mice in front of him, Lumiere was genuinely a bit panicked.
Who would have thought there would be so many Pikachu, and they were even wearing clothes—what, was this some kind of concert?
But on closer inspection, you could see that every Pikachu had more or less some injuries on their bodies, just hidden under their clothes, making them hard to notice.
Above several Pikachu hovered an Emolga, flapping its glider-like wing membranes. Like the yellow rats below, it was glaring furiously in Lumiere's direction.
〔Spirit: Emolga ♀〕
〔Type: Electric + Flying〕
〔Ability: Static (May paralyze the opponent on contact—this is the feeling of a heartbeat)〕
〔Moves: Ion Deluge, Nuzzle, Tail Whip, Double Team, Quick Attack, Thunder Shock, Charge〕
〔Status: Wound on left wing (seems to have been scratched by a cat)〕
〔Favorability: -30 (Compared to you, it seems to hate Rowlet even more)〕
"Ion Deluge and scratched by a cat… looks like it really is you."
Lumiere glanced over them quickly and realized that whether it was Emolga or Pikachu, all of them had the Static ability. Not a single one had a hidden ability.
And judging purely from their moves, Emolga was clearly the strongest among them, which meant it was the leader of the group.
But why would these guys kidnap Glameow? They even grabbed Rowlet, who was just cosplaying as Glameow. There had to be something else going on.
However, this was clearly not the time to think about that. The electric current on the yellow rats' cheeks suddenly surged as they shouted in unison, "Pika—chu!!!"
Seeing nine Thunder Shocks gathering at once, Lumiere immediately turned and ran toward the wall. He stepped on his right foot with his left and managed to grab the top edge in one go.
"Rowlet, pull me up!"
"Goo!"
Rowlet flapped its wings and flew up, transforming into a Snorlax-like form. It grabbed Lumiere and yanked him upward with all its strength, finally pulling him up just as the electric attacks were about to hit.
"Let's get out of here—there are too many of them. Split them up first. The target is to take down the leader, Emolga!"
As he spoke, Lumiere jumped down from the wall and ran into the narrow alley ahead with Rowlet in his arms.
But the yellow rats clearly had no intention of letting them go. Under Emolga's lead, they skillfully flipped over the wall and gave chase.
"These guys seem really familiar with the terrain around here…"
After weaving through the alleys for a while, Lumiere was blocked by Pikachu several times. As expected, outsiders couldn't beat the locals.
But then an idea suddenly struck him. He quickly put Glameow's outfit on Rowlet and let it take the lead.
After all, cats had an instinct—once you threw them into an alley, they'd always be able to find the right way out.
Even with Rowlet guiding the way, there were simply too many yellow rats. And it felt like they were deliberately steering him in a certain direction.
A burst of light appeared at the end of the alley. Lumiere finally emerged from the maze-like place, but after seeing what lay ahead, he didn't feel happy at all.
Because on the abandoned construction site ahead, there was another Pikachu—standing with its back to him.
This yellow rat wasn't wearing clothes. Its tail was heart-shaped, with what looked like three dark purple wounds on it, which was rather frightening…
〔Spirit: Pikachu ♀〕
〔Type: Electric〕
〔Ability: Lightning Rod (Absorbs electricity and converts it into special attack; great for checking Electric types)〕
〔Moves: Volt Tackle, Nasty Plot, Quick Attack, Thunder Wave, Double Team, Feint, Agility, Discharge, Slam, Thunderbolt〕
〔Status: Tail injured (scar left after recovering from poisoning—beware of infection), Fatigued (needs rest, don't overwork)〕
〔Favorability: -70 (Very clearly, it hates you—especially your Rowlet)〕
"So high-level?!"
Just as he finished reading the information, the Pikachu suddenly turned around. At the same time, the Pikachu chasing from behind surrounded him completely, leaving no room to escape.
"I got it wrong… Emolga isn't the leader. This Pikachu is the real boss…"
Watching the Pikachu ahead walk toward him with a cold expression and a faint air of authority, like a mafia queen.
Lumiere felt inexplicably uneasy. It seemed he had truly fallen into these little cuties' trap.
Facing the combined assault of eleven electric mice, relying on Rowlet alone was definitely not enough. After all, two fists couldn't beat four hands—and this was several times worse.
And Rowlet's strongest battle outfit right now was only Snorlax, but unless the real Snorlax of that scale showed up, it still wouldn't be enough.
Breaking the deadlock would be simple—just get a Ground-type outfit and bulldoze through. But he didn't have one.
"Pika…"
As the Pikachu was about to walk right up to him, Lumiere suddenly realized—there might not be a Ground type, but there was Lightning Rod!
That's right, this very Pikachu boss. It was the only one here with the Lightning Rod ability, and it was also the highest level among them!
As long as he could pull out a single hair, he could give Rowlet a Pikachu outfit. Wouldn't that turn the tables?
The idea was great, but reality was cruel. The surrounding Pikachu suddenly attacked without warning!
Several of them pounced on Lumiere and pinned him to the ground, while the rest coordinated with Emolga to grab the startled Rowlet as it took flight.
The queen-like Pikachu glanced at Rowlet, then walked over to Lumiere. Looking down at him, it stared with those proud black eyes full of arrogance.
And then, something completely unexpected happened!
The Pikachu suddenly spun around and whipped its tail across Lumiere's face, leaving a red mark and knocking him into a daze, his expression screaming, Who am I? Where am I?
"Huh?"
Before he could react, Pikachu smacked him in the face again with its tail—Slam, two-hit combo.
This time he finally snapped back to his senses and shouted with a wronged, depressed look, "You actually hit me twice… even Rowlet has never hit me!"
"Hmph!"
The Pikachu boss snorted coldly and ignored him, glancing at the still-pursued Rowlet. A trace of anger flashed across its face, as if it felt deceived.
Then it turned sharply and walked away, while the Pikachu holding Lumiere down had electricity flickering on their cheeks again, clearly preparing to knock him out.
Seeing this, Lumiere snapped back to reality once more. Looking flustered, he stammered, "Uh… let me say one last sentence…"
All the Pikachu stared at him, waiting for his final words.
Lumiere took a deep breath, steadied himself, then raised a finger and smiled calmly. "What you love is your life!"
"!!!"
The little rats were truly furious!
But just as they were about to release their electricity, a blue figure suddenly swooped down from the sky!
Rowlet had predicted Emolga's attack path, sharply turning back midair to dodge it. Then it transformed into Snorlax and used Heavy Slam to smash the two Pikachu pinning Lumiere, sending them flying!
Although it didn't deal much damage, it gave Lumiere a chance to escape. As long as he kept running forward, the road would keep extending!
But he didn't run.
Instead, locking onto the target he had been eyeing all along, he suddenly lunged forward and tackled the Pikachu boss—who had just turned to leave—straight to the ground…