Following Professor Oak's advice, Sato remained at Professor Oak's Laboratory and continued preparing for Swampert's advancement to the Elite Four level. During this period, he gradually gained a whole new understanding of the Pokémon he had left at the laboratory.
At present, the Pokémon under his command that had definitely surpassed the level-60 threshold were his level 60 Crobat, level 61 Nidoking, level 64 Bellossom, level 63 Arcanine, level 62 Shiny Beautifly, and level 63 Shiny Gyarados.
Among them, only Crobat and Nidoking had previously been taken away from Professor Oak's Laboratory by Sato for battles. The remaining Pokémon had stayed at the laboratory all this time, so their level growth had been somewhat slow.
However, there was no shortage of Elite Four-level Pokémon staying at Professor Oak's Laboratory. There were also many Pokémon between levels 60 and 70.
Through sparring, battles, and interactions with the Pokémon here, Bellossom, Arcanine, Shiny Beautifly, and Shiny Gyarados had all made considerable progress in their strength.
This could be clearly seen from the number of new moves that had appeared in their Move Tutor sections.
Pokémon: Crobat
Level: 60
Tutor Moves:Shadow Ball, Double Team, Sludge Bomb, Fly, Dark Pulse
...….
Pokémon: Nidoking
Level: 61
Tutor Moves:Venoshock, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, Brick Break, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide
...….
Pokémon: Bellossom
Level: 64
Tutor Moves:Secret Power, Energy Ball, Grass Knot, Grassy Terrain, Petal Dance, Hyper Beam, Solar Beam, Double Team, Attract
...….
Pokémon: Arcanine
Level: 63
Tutor Moves:Flame Charge, Flame Wheel, Overheat, Flare Blitz, Fire Blast, Hyper Beam, Solar Beam, Body Slam, Morning Sun, Iron Head, Iron Tail
...….
Pokémon: Shiny Beautifly
Level: 62
Tutor Moves:Aerial Ace, Hyper Beam, Venoshock, Roost, Energy Ball, Substitute, Signal Beam
...….
Pokémon: Shiny Gyarados
Level: 63
Tutor Moves:Bounce, Hyper Beam, Surf, Dive, Waterfall, Whirlpool, Dragon Tail, Dark Pulse, Body Slam
...….
These six Pokémon could be considered the strongest group of Pokémon currently under Sato's command. Once Swampert successfully advanced to the Elite Four level, they would be the Pokémon on whom Sato planned to concentrate his available resources and train with all his might.
Day after day passed.
Swampert's energy infusion became increasingly complete.
Finally, after consuming five Mystic Water items, two portions of Groudon's blood, and an entire bag of Soft Sand that Sato had spent a staggering 20 million PokeDollars to acquire, the moment for Swampert to advance to the Elite Four level had finally arrived.
It was around 2 a.m. on the eighteenth night since Sato had arrived at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
In a certain marshland in the rear garden of the laboratory, a gigantic pillar of light, half blue and half yellow, suddenly shot straight into the sky.
In an instant, Ground-type and Water-type energy within a ten-kilometer radius became extraordinarily active. Like worshippers rushing toward a holy site, the energy rapidly converged toward the pillar of light.
Within just a few seconds, a gigantic vortex of energy appeared above the pillar. It then transformed into the shape of a funnel.
From this energy funnel, vast quantities of incredibly pure Water-type and Ground-type energy poured downward along the pillar of light like waterfalls.
At the center of the pillar, Swampert stood completely motionless, as immovable as a mountain.
His entire body seemed to have transformed into glass, radiating a strange brilliance from head to toe.
At the same time, Swampert's body was like a black hole. All the Water-type and Ground-type energy pouring down from the energy funnel was completely absorbed into his body.
Powerful energy fluctuations then began spreading outward from Swampert.
As these energy waves expanded, they compressed the surrounding air and generated fierce gusts of wind, causing the vegetation within a hundred meters to rustle violently.
"Grandpa! W-what exactly is happening?"
Still wearing his pajamas, Gary hurriedly ran into Professor Oak's room and looked anxiously at his grandfather, who was staring solemnly out the window.
The disturbance in the rear garden had awakened everyone nearby long ago.
Even countless Pokémon within a ten-kilometer radius had been startled awake from their sleep by the abnormal fluctuations in the surrounding energy.
"Oh, Gary. Don't worry. It's a good thing. Your big brother Sato's Swampert has successfully advanced into an Elite Four-level Pokémon. Let's go over and congratulate him."
Hearing someone call from behind him, Professor Oak turned around. Upon seeing that it was his grandson, he smiled and reassured him.
"What?! Then doesn't that mean that guy is already an Elite Four-level Trainer? How is that possible? He actually advanced faster than my sister!"
The panic quickly disappeared from Gary's face after hearing Professor Oak's words, replaced by an expression of disbelief.
At the same time, Ash had also been awakened from his sleep.
Unlike Gary, who had initially been frightened, Ash felt nothing but curiosity when he saw the two-colored pillar of light and the energy funnel appearing in Professor Oak's backyard.
"That direction should be somewhere around Pallet Town, right? As expected of the Champion's Town. It has produced another incredible Pokémon."
"An energy tide? It's actually an energy tide! And the range of this energy tide is enormous. The Pokémon triggering such a massive energy tide must have incredible potential."
"This is the first time I've ever seen an energy tide on such a large scale. I wonder which Pokémon is advancing to the Elite Four level. Hmm… I might as well go take a look."
Elsewhere, the powerful Trainers within a ten-kilometer radius were also secretly speculating about which Pokémon had caused the energy tide appearing in the distant sky.
Some driven by curiosity, and others harboring ulterior motives, began heading toward the direction where the energy tide was converging.
However, when they discovered that the center of the energy tide was located inside Pallet Town, they immediately stopped advancing.
They only dared to observe from a distance outside the town.
At that moment, in Pallet Town's night sky, a Dragonite was watching these late-night visitors with a sharp gaze.
Every person who found themselves under Dragonite's gaze felt a chill run down their spine.
The energy tide caused by Swampert's advancement to the Elite Four level lasted only about ten minutes.
Afterward, it gradually disappeared, and the energy within the ten-kilometer radius returned to its normal state.
When the energy tide vanished, the two-colored pillar of light disappeared as well.
However, Swampert, who had been standing inside the pillar, was now completely encased within a shell of energy mixed with blue and earthy yellow. His condition could not be seen from outside.
This state lasted for roughly half a minute.
Suddenly, a crack came from within the energy shell.
A fissure appeared across its surface, then rapidly spread outward.
A few seconds later, under Sato's expectant gaze, the energy shell suddenly exploded.
It transformed into countless fleeting particles of light that scattered in every direction.
Standing before Sato was Swampert, radiating the powerful pressure of an Elite Four-level Pokémon.
At this moment, Swampert still had his eyes closed, seemingly not yet conscious.
Suddenly, however, a gigantic blue-glowing symbol and a gigantic earthy-yellow-glowing symbol simultaneously appeared in front of him.
They began revolving around Swampert's body.
As they rotated, their forms rapidly shrank.
By the end, they were only about the size of a pearl.
Immediately afterward, the two symbols flew effortlessly into Swampert's body.
In that instant, Sato keenly noticed the patterns of those two symbols suddenly appearing on the skin of Swampert's left and right hands.
However, the patterns vanished almost immediately, making Sato wonder for a moment whether his eyes had deceived him.
"Swamp!"
When the two strange symbols entered Swampert's body, he seemed to regain consciousness as well.
He slowly opened his eyes and clearly felt the tremendous power continuously surging through his body.
He immediately let out an excited roar.
The next moment, the earth began to tremble.
A gigantic mound of earth rapidly rose from beneath Swampert's feet, lifting him high into the air.
At the same time, the sky above Swampert quickly became covered in dark clouds.
Then, torrential rain suddenly began to pour down.