After lunch, before he even started working, the moment Clemont thought about the perfect design taking shape in his head, he immediately fell into a self-hypnotized state of total admiration.
"Heh heh heh heh heh!"
Ash and Serena looked at each other, both at a loss.
"Uh... are you okay?"
Bonnie looked like her soul had already left her body. Her face was completely red, and she wore the miserable, embarrassed expression of someone being dragged into public humiliation by association.
"Clemont, please don't do this. You're scaring your sister!"
But once Clemont slipped into his self-satisfied trance, outside distractions couldn't reach him at all.
"The future is now, thanks to science! Clemontic Gear, on!"
He opened the mechanical backpack he always carried, pulled out a huge pile of parts, and threw himself into building the machine at top speed.
To be fair, Clemont really was impressive when it came to tightening screws and assembling gadgets.
From Ash's point of view, his hands were moving so fast it was like someone had hit fast-forward.
But after a while, with nothing for the other three to do and no real way to join in, just standing there and watching quickly got boring.
So while they waited, their attention drifted elsewhere.
Since Latias was still there and hadn't left, she naturally became the first choice. Serena and Bonnie immediately gathered around her.
After getting Latias's permission, the two girls were lucky enough to experience what it felt like to ride Latias with Ash accompanying them.
Bonnie sat in the front, Serena sat in the middle with her arms around Bonnie protectively, and Ash sat in the back, protecting both of them.
...
Back at camp, Clemont raised the completed machine high above his head in excitement.
"My mission is complete!"
He called for everyone to gather.
"Huh? Where is everyone?"
Looking at the completely empty campsite, Clemont slowly produced a giant question mark in his head.
High in the distant sky, Latias had been keeping watch over Clemont's side with her psychic power the whole time. The instant she noticed the machine was finished, she immediately relayed the news to Ash.
"Then let's head back."
This time, instead of flying back, Latias used Teleport on the return trip.
Whoosh!
With Latias carrying them, the three instantly reappeared at camp.
The moment he saw them return, Clemont tossed aside all his confusion and proudly lifted up his invention.
"It's finished. Ta-da!"
The three looked over and saw a golden horn mounted on top of a brown wooden box, something that was obviously a kind of loudspeaker.
Honestly, at least in terms of color scheme, it really did look a lot like one of those proper commercial amplifiers sold in stores.
Clemont announced excitedly, "I call it: the machine that attracts Pokémon to come battle!"
Bonnie fell silent for a second, then said, "...That name is really as direct as it gets."
"Anyway, let's go test it out!"
Clemont was so eager he could hardly stand still. His legs kept bouncing up and down, and his whole body swayed from side to side.
He looked exactly like an excited puppy waiting for its owner to hand over a treat.
Under Clemont's constant urging, Ash had Latias use Teleport again, taking them straight into the part of the forest with the highest concentration of wild Pokémon.
Once Ash and Serena had released the Pokémon that needed training, Fennekin, the two Ralts, Froakie, and Fletchling, and everyone had put on the special soundproof earplugs Clemont made to avoid getting caught in the blast radius...
"Fletchling? Huh?! Where did that Fletchling come from?"
The three of them all looked at Ash in confusion.
Ash met Fletchling's eyes and reached out with one finger to scratch the feathers on the little bird's chest.
Fletchling immediately melted into a blissful expression.
"I forgot to tell you. I caught Fletchling while it and Froakie were doing move training."
Clemont nodded, then impatiently pressed the switch.
"All right, here we go!"
A series of sound waves too subtle for ordinary people to hear quickly spread outward through the forest.
The nearby wild Pokémon, which had been loafing around with no fighting spirit at all, suddenly changed completely. Their expressions sharpened, their eyes turned aggressive, and they all locked onto the machine in Clemont's hands.
"Perfect, it works!"
Seeing the machine actually do its job, Clemont looked happier than anyone else there.
Bzzzzzz!
The sound of wings beating at high speed reached everyone's ears.
Deep in the forest, a swarm of Beedrill, their yellow-and-black bodies covered in chitin, each armed with two silver stingers like lances, was the first to arrive.
With a furious buzz of wings, they shot through the trees and charged straight toward the open grassy clearing where everyone was standing.
That was when the group finally got a clear look at the size of the swarm.
There were over thirty of them.
All packed together, they were genuinely a little terrifying, enough to make your scalp tingle.
The good news was that Bug-type Pokémon evolved early because of their generally lower base stats.
So even though these Beedrill were fully evolved, their levels weren't very high, only around level 15.
This was a fight they could take.
Latias used her psychic power to protect Ash's group and the machine, then glanced at Ash and received an approving look in return.
Looking at the first wave of Beedrill to reach the battlefield, Ash's eyes gleamed.
Back in the day, he always had to make Pikachu run around in circles to lure wild Pokémon over, and they usually ended up fleeing while being chased all over the place.
Now they could just stand still and wait for the opposition to deliver itself to them.
Clemont really was great.
Even while all that flashed through his head, Ash showed no mercy at all when he gave his commands.
"Froakie, Acrobatics! Ralts, Mystical Fire! Fletchling, Razor Wind!"
Serena's voice followed right after his.
"Fennekin, Ember! Ralts, Mystical Fire!"
Strong-willed by nature, Froakie showed not the slightest fear even in the face of a large Beedrill swarm. It was the first one to rush forward and attack.
Its legs exploded with force, blue light coursing over its body as it shot out like an arrow released from a bow.
Beedrill One, sensing danger after being targeted, abruptly changed direction on instinct and narrowly dodged.
Beedrill Two behind it was still completely confused. It had only just started to turn when Froakie's fist slammed into it.
Bang!
The force of the blow sent Beedrill Two flying backward on the spot, and its body smashed straight into Beedrill Three behind it.
Beedrill Three had no idea what had just happened. Its body shot away like a cannonball, blasted back more than a hundred yards before losing the ability to battle.
An instant knockout.
And a double knockout at that.
Froakie stared down at its own hands in disbelief.
Had it really... gotten this strong already?
After that brief shock, Froakie looked up at Ash with a face full of excitement.
Even though the battlefield was chaotic, that kind of dramatic scene was impossible to miss, and it immediately drew the attention of all four humans.
"Huh?!"
Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie all stood there with their eyes wide and mouths hanging open as they watched it happen.
"How is Froakie's strength that ridiculous?"
Ash was much calmer. He knew Acrobatics' doubled power effect had kicked in.
Still, the moment Beedrill One dodged, Ash was reminded of Froakie's earlier battle with Fletchling.
In that match too, Froakie had struggled to land a hit.
It was obvious enough that ground-based fighters were at a real disadvantage against flying targets.
On top of that, Froakie usually fought above its level, and a base Speed stat of 71 was already starting to feel a little lacking. The problem was that Froakie couldn't even learn a speed-boosting move like Agility at this stage.
Fortunately... unlike other Trainers, Ash could enhance a Pokémon's Ability and use that to help Froakie.
Once it was strengthened to Battle Bond II in the future, then by defeating an opponent with its Ability, Froakie would be able to trigger +1 Attack, +1 Special Attack, and +1 Speed.
Its future was bright.