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To be honest, Sato was a bit stunned right now. How had the "big boss" the opponent painstakingly summoned suddenly become so close to him? And from the looks of it, that boss had outright switched sides.
"A time projection from the future… could it be that in the future, I'll actually form a partnership with this Celebi?"
Although Sato was momentarily confused, after thinking it through, he quickly realized that his future self must share an extraordinary relationship with this future projection of Celebi.
Unfortunately, the Celebi clone that summoned the projection had too weak a grasp of temporal power. Before Sato could even communicate with the projection via telepathy, its body began to fade rapidly.
"Farewell, my friend. We'll meet again in the future."
At that moment, this sentence suddenly echoed in Sato's mind—and the Celebi projection vanished completely.
At the same time, the black-robed man and the shiny Natu, who had been bound by grass and roots created by Celebi, broke free and immediately turned to flee.
The black-robed man was truly afraid now. He wasn't a fool—if even Celebi's future projection had defected, it meant that the person before him was someone who would not die here, and who would likely become an unimaginable powerhouse in the future.
Right now, all he wanted was to escape as far as possible and hide somewhere Sato could never find him.
But how could Sato allow that?
The moment the black-robed man broke free, Sato immediately used telepathy to command Crobat to use Taunt and Mean Look on the shiny Natu.
Fortunately, this shiny Natu did not possess the rare Magic Bounce ability. Otherwise, stopping them would have been far more difficult.
"Tell me everything you know about your organization. If you do, I can make things easier for you."
Sato approached slowly with his Pokémon, his expression icy.
He remembered clearly—this man had never taken him seriously and had fought with full killing intent. Against such an enemy, Sato would show no mercy.
"You've already won—what more do you want? I swear, if you let me go, I'll never appear before you again! Killing me is useless anyway—I'm just an insignificant pawn in the organization."
"Our organization is filled with powerful experts. If you kill me, you'll completely offend us. Then the ones coming after you won't be weaklings like me!"
"Listen—if you let me go and give me some fresh blood from Zapdos, I can guarantee the organization will stop targeting your Zapdos!"
Even now, the black-robed man refused to face reality. He tried to threaten Sato with his organization, putting on a fierce front while inwardly panicking.
"Still refusing to accept reality, huh? No matter. Even if you don't want to talk, I have ways to make you speak."
Sato's gaze turned cold as he spoke.
In the next instant, a blue glow flashed in his eyes. The black-robed man, who was staring at him, suddenly had his eyes dim—but his body trembled violently, veins bulging beneath his mask.
Sato was using Hypnosis.
However, he hadn't expected the man's willpower to be so strong. The man fiercely resisted the mental intrusion, causing a brief stalemate.
Seeing this, the shiny Natu's eyes flickered with cunning.
Suddenly, it leapt forward, attempting to attack Sato at close range—hoping to interrupt the hypnosis and take Sato hostage.
But its plan was naïve.
The moment it jumped, its body froze midair. A dark tongue wrapped tightly around it.
Then, a massive hand grabbed it entirely—and with a slight squeeze, the shiny Natu lost consciousness.
Kadabra, Swampert, and the Kecleon quietly perched on Sato's shoulder had been protecting him the entire time. The shiny Natu had no chance of succeeding.
Though the black-robed man's willpower was stronger than most, he was still just an ordinary human with no special abilities. Under Sato's relentless mental assault, he finally succumbed after one or two minutes and fell into a hypnotized state.
Now reduced to an unconscious puppet, he answered everything Sato asked. Soon, Sato obtained a large amount of information about the so-called "cloning organization."
It turned out that the organization's true name was the Legendary Beast Society.
It was a powerful group hidden deep in the shadows, with influence spanning the entire world. Their goal was to collect legendary Pokémon and create artificial versions that would be completely obedient to humans.
As for the identity of the organization's leader, someone at the black-robed man's level had no knowledge of it. The only person he knew was his direct superior—an executive hidden within the Hoenn League, known only by the codename Mr. K.
This mission to seize Sato's Zapdos had been assigned by Mr. K.
According to the black-robed man, Mr. K's original intention wasn't to take Zapdos by force. At first, he only wanted to trade for some fresh blood from Zapdos in exchange for generous compensation.
The plan to steal Zapdos was merely a backup option if the negotiation failed.
Of course, compared to a small sample of blood, obtaining an entire legendary Pokémon would greatly increase the mission's value—and the rewards.
In the end, the black-robed man had overestimated his own strength and grown greedy. With four powerful legendary clones at his disposal, he thought he could easily defeat Sato.
He never expected to end up like this.
"He really brought this on himself… but it's understandable. Anyone who suddenly gains that many powerful legendary clones would have their ego inflated. I bet he didn't take anyone seriously except Elite-Four Trainers."
After extracting all the information, Sato couldn't help but feel both disdain and anger at the man's arrogance.
If the man had honestly proposed trading for some Zapdos blood from the beginning—and the price was reasonable—Sato would likely have agreed, out of respect for the Legendary Beast Society.
But things had already reached this point.
There was no way Sato would let him go.
And as for giving up the captured legendary clones? That was even more impossible.
Moreover, judging from the earlier interaction with the future Celebi projection, the Celebi clone lying on the ground now had a deep connection with him.
No matter what, he would not return it.
"When the boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally straighten. Thinking too much is pointless. If I'm going to fear powerful forces at every step, then what's the point of becoming strong? I might as well go back to Pewter City and live as a carefree rich man. If I'm going to live, I'll live boldly."
After staring at the unconscious black-robed man for a moment, Sato's expression hardened with resolve.
He had made his decision—there would be no releasing this enemy.
"Nidoking, Kecleon—use Flamethrower to burn away all traces here."
After taking all valuable items from the black-robed man and collecting his Pokémon, Sato issued his command.
Soon, blazing flames engulfed the area, erasing all traces and scents of the battle.