At the silver-haired woman's command, Ariados opened its mouth without hesitation and suddenly attacked.
As expected of a world-famous female thief, she acted decisively, striking the moment she chose to, without the slightest hesitation!
Ash had never imagined that she would attack a stranger simply because he had removed the spider silk and exchanged a few words with her!
Caught off guard, he was struck by Ariados's Psychic and fell into the river beside him!
Not only had Xia You failed to react, but even Pikachu could only watch as its trainer was attacked by Ariados.
"What are you doing?!" Ash quickly clambered out of the river and shouted at the silver-haired woman. He was drenched from head to toe and looked utterly bedraggled.
Seeing that the two female thieves still looked completely unconcerned, Ash could not contain his rising anger. He gritted his teeth. "Fine, if that's how it is, we won't hold back either! Pikachu, go!!"
At a wave of Ash's hand, Pikachu rammed headfirst into Ariados, and the two Pokémon immediately began battling.
Seeing that the blonde woman's Espeon also seemed ready to join the battle, Xia You took out a Poké Ball and released his Gardevoir.
The two Pokémon exchanged several psychic attacks. Though invisible to the naked eye, two powerful forces could still be felt colliding in midair, even distorting the air itself.
The blonde woman swept her gaze over the group and said coldly, "So you're determined to meddle!"
Erika, Misty, and Brock said nothing. Instead, they released their own Pokémon, expressing their support for Xia You and Ash through their actions.
It had to be said that the two master thieves' Pokémon were indeed quite strong, but only compared with ordinary people. Against Xia You and the others, they were nowhere near strong