The Pokémon Sato released at this moment was naturally Zapdos, the Legendary Pokémon. Only it could instantly create such an enormous thundercloud and command the lightning with such ease.
Clearly, this Legendary Pokémon Sato had captured was extremely unwilling to submit to him. With Professor Oak's Dragonite no longer restraining it, Zapdos had absolutely no intention of showing Sato any courtesy. The moment it appeared, it gave Sato an overwhelming show of force.
However, Sato still had a PokeBall in his possession that could forcibly recall Zapdos at any time. Moreover, he had Pikachu beside him, a Pokémon completely immune to Electric-type moves. Thus, no matter how unwilling Zapdos was, it could not actually threaten Sato.
The thought of being controlled by such a weak human in the future made Zapdos feel increasingly frustrated and resentful.
It glared viciously at Sato, wishing it could immediately turn him into a charred corpse. With a mere thought, a massive amount of electricity shot from its body into the dark clouds overhead.
Immediately afterward, another barrage of lightning poured down from the thunderclouds, with most of the bolts aimed directly at Sato.
Unfortunately for Zapdos, its efforts were destined to be futile.
The moment killing intent surged within Zapdos, Pikachu had already leapt from Sato's shoulder and landed on the ground.
Then, just as the lightning bolts aimed at Sato were about to strike him, they suddenly changed direction one after another and landed on Pikachu instead.
Thanks to its Lightning Rod ability, Pikachu effortlessly redirected most of the electrical power into the ground without suffering the slightest injury.
Seeing Pikachu neutralize its attack so easily, Zapdos became furious. It let out several angry cries, but ultimately chose not to continue attacking.
It knew that if it continued behaving recklessly, the Psychic human below would definitely stop standing by. There was even a chance that it would be sent back to that nightmarish place again.
Once Zapdos stopped attacking, the entire world suddenly fell silent.
The dark clouds still hung heavily overhead, however, and with the human and bird silently staring at one another, the atmosphere became unbearably oppressive.
"You've vented enough, haven't you, Zapdos? I know you're unwilling to submit to me. And that's understandable. When I captured you back then, I didn't defeat you fairly, nor did I capture you through my own strength. It's only natural that you refuse to acknowledge me."
"Today, I'll give you a chance. Next, you only need to defeat one Pokémon that I release, and I'll unconditionally set you free."
"But in return, I hope you'll give me a chance as well. As long as this Pokémon defeats you, you must submit to my commands from then on. How about it?"
Seeing that Zapdos had finally calmed down somewhat, Sato smiled brightly. He then calmly used telepathy to speak to the Zapdos hovering above him.
"Humans cannot be trusted. Don't even think about deceiving me."
Zapdos clearly didn't believe a word Sato said. Its prejudice against humans had already become deeply ingrained, and it could not possibly be changed in such a short time. Thus, the moment Sato finished speaking, Zapdos angrily cried out at him.
"So you don't believe me."
"Fine. Then leave."
Sato had already anticipated this response. Hearing Zapdos's merciless rejection, he wasn't angry in the slightest and simply spoke calmly.
To prove that he meant what he said, Sato immediately tossed the PokeBall in his hand onto the ground in front of Zapdos.
Then he stepped on it and crushed it.
Without the restraint of the PokeBall, Zapdos was truly free from that moment onward.
Seeing Sato crush the PokeBall that had restrained it without the slightest hesitation, Zapdos felt as though its heart had been struck by a heavy hammer. The shock it experienced was immense.
For a moment, it didn't know what to do. It simply stared blankly at Sato, disbelief filling its eyes.
"Go. You're free now."
Seeing Zapdos's reaction, Sato smiled and shook his head before once again speaking to it through telepathy.
Afterward, he didn't even look back at Zapdos. He simply turned around and walked away with Pikachu.
Sato was gambling now.
He was gambling that Zapdos was proud.
As a Legendary Pokémon, Zapdos would never disdainfully accept freedom bestowed upon it by someone else—especially when that freedom came from a human it had originally looked down upon.
Of course, Sato was also worried that Zapdos might simply leave and never return.
But there was nothing else he could do.
If Zapdos refused to give him a chance to defeat it fairly, Sato would never be able to make it genuinely acknowledge him for the rest of his life.
Compared to that outcome, Sato would rather release it.
At least then he wouldn't have to carry any psychological burden, nor would he have to waste food feeding it.
"SKREEEE!!!"
Seeing Sato actually turn around and leave without looking back, Zapdos became furious. It immediately let out a deafening cry, and in an instant, thunder and lightning once again filled the sky.
Just as Sato had expected, Zapdos was proud.
It didn't need this kind of freedom bestowed upon it by another.
It would rather die than accept it.
Now Sato was actually trying to force this charity-like freedom upon it. If word of this spread, how could Zapdos ever show its face again? What dignity would it have when facing the other members of its kind?
The thought was unbearable.
Zapdos immediately spread its wings and flew in front of Sato, glaring furiously at him.
"I already set you free. What more do you want?"
Seeing Zapdos block his path, Sato was secretly delighted. He knew that Zapdos had fallen into his trap.
However, his expression remained stern as he spoke through telepathy with apparent displeasure.
"Human, I don't need your charity."
"Release that Pokémon of yours who just advanced. Today, I'll give you a chance. If you defeat me, I'll obey your commands."
"But if I win, you must never bother me again."
Zapdos became even angrier upon hearing this, but ultimately did nothing. Instead, it suppressed its fury and explained its conditions to Sato.
Zapdos had previously lived at Professor Oak's Laboratory, so it naturally knew that Swampert had advanced to the Elite-Four level the previous day.
However, even though it knew this, it hadn't thought much of it. It didn't consider a Pokémon that had only just reached the Elite-Four level to be worthy of its attention.
"Fine. You said it yourself."
"Come out, Swampert. Prepare for battle."
After receiving Zapdos's definite answer, Sato immediately threw out Swampert's PokeBall and released him.
"SWAAAMP!!!"
In the next instant, Swampert's mountain-like body emerged onto the ground.
He fearlessly stared at Zapdos hovering in the sky before letting out a thunderous roar of challenge.
As Swampert's roar rang out, torrential rain suddenly began pouring from the sky.
Rainy weather instantly enveloped the surrounding area.
"SKREEEE!!!"
Faced with Swampert's provocation, Zapdos immediately let out an enraged cry as well.
Then countless bolts of lightning descended from the sky and precisely struck Swampert.
However, Swampert was a Ground-type Pokémon.
As long as his feet remained firmly planted on the earth, Electric-type attacks could barely hurt him.
Even as thousands upon thousands of lightning bolts descended upon his body, he remained completely unperturbed.
"Swampert, show Zapdos what you're capable of. Use Ice Spear!"
This was only fair. After Swampert had endured the countless bolts of lightning summoned by Zapdos, Sato immediately ordered him to counterattack.
Hearing the command, Swampert's arms were rapidly covered by a pair of icy gauntlets. At the same time, two ice spears radiating bone-chilling cold appeared in his hands.
In the next moment, Ice-type energy erupted from Swampert's body.
He swung his arms with tremendous force, sending the two ice spears shooting into the sky like streaks of ice-blue light, accompanied by a sharp sonic boom.
The instant Swampert threw the ice spears, a deadly sense of danger surged through Zapdos.
Without even thinking, its wings were immediately covered in a metallic sheen before it crossed them in front of its chest.
Clang!
Clang!
Two deafening metallic impacts rang out across the sky.
At the same time, Zapdos felt an unbearable pain in both wings.
The ice spears thrown by Swampert carried tremendous force. Although Zapdos successfully blocked them with Steel Wing, the sheer power behind the attacks left both wings numb.
The areas struck directly by the ice spears were especially painful.
But the sense of deadly danger hadn't disappeared.
Peering through the gap between its wings toward the ground, Zapdos's heart sank.
While Zapdos had been defending against the ice spears, Swampert had already used his powerful control over water together with Ice Punch to create another two ice spears.
He was already preparing to throw them at Zapdos again.
How could Zapdos simply sit there and wait for death?
Compared with the Zapdos clone Swampert had fought before, this Zapdos was countless times stronger.
It also possessed independent intelligence and an extremely rich wealth of battle experience.
Before Swampert could launch his next attack, Zapdos immediately used Agility and Double Team, creating countless afterimages in the air to interfere with Swampert and make it difficult for him to determine which one was the real Zapdos.
At the same time, Zapdos began using several extremely powerful non-Electric-type moves to attack.
Countless strange chunks of rock formed around its body, then flew downward at incredible speed under its command.
Ancient Power.
In the blink of an eye, countless sharp rocks shot toward Swampert from every direction.
Seeing this, Swampert immediately slammed both fists into the ground.
Four thick walls of ice mixed with earth suddenly rose from the ground around him, blocking the incoming rocks.
"Just as I thought. If I want to defeat you, I really have to show you some of my true strength."
"Come on, Swampert. Show your new form."
"Mega Evolution!"
Seeing Swampert struggling, Sato let out a long sigh before speaking excitedly.
The moment his voice fell, he raised his left hand, which was equipped with a Mega Bracelet, and touched the Key Stone embedded within it with his finger.
In an instant, the Key Stone released a brilliant rainbow-colored radiance.
Several beams of multicolored light shot out from the Key Stone.
At the same time, the Swampertite mounted on the collar around Swampert's neck also immediately emitted a dazzling rainbow glow, sending several beams of colored light shooting outward.
The beams released from the Key Stone and Swampertite connected with each other.
Swampert's entire body was instantly bathed in multicolored light, and his physical form began changing rapidly.
The entire process took less than a second.
By the time Zapdos realized what was happening, Swampert had already completed his Mega Evolution.
"SWAAAMP!!!"
A Mega Swampert, several sizes larger than before, stood proudly upon the earth.
As he let out a mighty roar, a gigantic multicolored spiral mark suddenly appeared in front of him.
The next instant, Zapdos's vision blurred.
Mega Swampert's enormous body had suddenly appeared directly in front of it.
And a fist radiating a terrifying aura was rapidly growing larger in its field of vision.