"Come on, let's go take a look."
Cynthia stepped onto the speedboat docked nearby and beckoned to Silas and the others.
Haruto asked nervously, "We're just going to approach Zapdos like this? It won't suddenly get angry, right?"
Like most Electric-type Pokémon, Zapdos had a rather impulsive temperament. Calling down lightning to strike enemies was hardly an uncommon occurrence.
He had no desire to be turned into charcoal for no reason.
"Relax. If Zapdos wanted to get angry, it would've fried you a long time ago. This is its territory, after all. A Legendary Pokémon's senses aren't that weak."
Without another word, Silas followed Cynthia onto the boat.
He was extremely curious about the glowing area in the middle of the lake.
As Silas had said, Zapdos had noticed them long ago, while they were still in the air.
It was already very familiar with the undisguised Champion-level aura emanating from Cynthia's Garchomp.
More importantly, among the three people she had brought with her, one carried a scent that felt strangely familiar to Zapdos.
"Articuno and Lord Ho-Oh..."
Zapdos, which had been resting, slightly moved its eyelids.
As it sensed the humans approaching, not only did it say nothing, it even shifted slightly to one side, making room for them.
"This is it."
Even so, Cynthia didn't steer the speedboat too deeply into the glowing area, instead stopping near its edge.
She walked to the center of the boat and, to the surprise of the three men, opened a section of the deck.
Beneath it was a transparent square pane of glass, revealing the scenery below the water.
"That is a ruin?"
Brock muttered.
Through the glass, what came into view was an ancient ruin in a state of collapse and decay.
At its center stood a solitary stone pillar.
On top of the pillar rested a massive crystal.
"That's the 'converter' I mentioned," Cynthia explained.
"This crystal? How does it work?"
Acting entirely on instinct as a researcher, Haruto asked the question immediately.
The moment the words left his mouth, however, he realized he had been a bit rude.
An item capable of healing severe injuries suffered by a Legendary Pokémon was undoubtedly considered top-level League confidential information.
He wasn't qualified to know such things.
"No, the 'converter' is the pillar and the ruins themselves."
Cynthia directly corrected him.
"That crystal is indeed the direct reason Zapdos is recovering, but the pillar's role is mainly to convert and accelerate the process."
"The Legendary Crystal?"
Silas thoughtfully picked up the conversation.
He seemed to remember reading about such a crystal in a book from the Viridian Library.
"According to legend, this crystal was born atop a mountain. One day, countless bolts of lightning struck the summit. When everything finally calmed down, half the mountain had simply disappeared, leaving only a single crystal inside the crater.
"It possesses an incredible power that can transform ordinary lake water into healing water suitable for Electric-type Pokémon."
"Exactly."
Cynthia nodded.
"But if it's simply left soaking in a lake, its effects are very weak and it wouldn't emit such a powerful glow."
"These patterns, I feel like I've seen them somewhere before."
With his excellent eyesight, Silas stared at the ruins beneath the water and fell into thought.
Meanwhile, Haruto continued asking Cynthia for more stories regarding the crystal.
As a researcher, he was eager to learn any unknown knowledge.
Perhaps that was also why he had become so successful.
Brock, on the other hand, was furiously taking notes while observing Zapdos.
From a Breeder's perspective, every Legendary Pokémon could be considered a perfect example of raising Pokémon of its type.
From their feathers to the energy flowing within them, every detail was worthy of study.
And with Brock's special eyes, he could perceive far more than ordinary people.
"Those engravings are they silver?"
Silas suddenly asked.
Cynthia, who had been explaining historical knowledge to Haruto, immediately turned toward him.
"That's right. Looks like you know quite a bit about this."
A glimmer of interest appeared in her eyes.
Silas smiled.
"I once explored an underground ruin near Lavender Town. It had similar patterns."
It was there that he had obtained the Shining Stone mentioned by Steven, and also caught a shiny Rattata, which was now living a happy life at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
"These are the crystallized wisdom of the ancient Atlantean civilization."
As a mythologist whose side profession was that of a historian, Cynthia was clearly far more knowledgeable than Silas in this field.
"Similar ruins have been discovered all over the world by the League. These mechanisms, formed by engraved patterns filled with silver, aren't particularly rare, but their functions vary greatly depending on the direction of the engravings.
"The patterns below that perform the conversion are one type the League has managed to decipher."
Atlantis.
Another familiar name.
The archaeological team that Sabrina had once asked Silas to protect had also been exploring ruins belonging to Atlantis.
"How strange. Ancient civilizations actually had more advanced technology than we do."
Brock, who neither understood nor cared much about these things, looked rather puzzled.
"I wouldn't put it that way."
Silas shook his head.
"It's more accurate to say that ancient civilizations developed in different directions than we did.
"Back then, Pokémon were often called magical beasts, and the relationship between humans and Pokémon wasn't nearly as peaceful and stable as it is now.
"A lot of their technology wasn't designed to utilize Pokémon's power, but to defend against Pokémon.
"But if you look at the overall picture, modern technology is definitely ahead."
People of ancient times could never have imagined that one day humans would be able to store Pokémon inside a Poké Ball only the size of a fist.
And even that wasn't the limit, some Poké Balls could be small enough to fit between two fingers.
"So that crystal has gathered the power of natural lightning, and that's why it has healing properties?"
Brock wasn't particularly interested in ancient civilizations and quickly shifted his attention back to the crystal.
Unfortunately, Cynthia couldn't answer that question.
Being a mythologist didn't mean she understood the scientific principles behind everything.
Just as the group was about to head back to shore.
"Human, wait a moment. I have a few questions for you."
A somewhat sharp and hurried voice suddenly echoed within their minds.
Feeling something, Silas pointed at himself.
"That's right. You."
The voice sounded again.
"Please, go ahead."
Silas looked toward Zapdos, which had somehow opened its eyes.
Within those eyes, he could clearly see exhaustion and weakness.
"My old friend is it doing alright?"
The question caught Silas completely off guard.
But he quickly understood.
"Articuno? It should be doing fine. Although it said not to disturb it for the next few years because it has something important to do."
The distance between this place and Snowpoint Mountain wasn't very great.
At least, not for two Legendary birds.
It wasn't strange at all that they had known each other for a very long time.
After all, they were collectively known as the Legendary Birds.
"Then it sounds like it's alright."
Zapdos's tone relaxed considerably.
If Articuno still had enough energy to produce offspring, then its condition was obviously far better than Zapdos's own weakened state.
"My second question..."
A hint of curiosity appeared in Zapdos's eyes.
"You have met Lord Ho-Oh?"
Although Lugia was technically their superior, anyone who knew the relationship between Ho-Oh and Lugia understood why Zapdos was asking.
"No."
Silas shook his head.
"It was simply a coincidence. One of my partners once received the blessing of Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire.
"And I also possess a Rainbow Wing. That's all."
If he had actually met Ho-Oh, he'd be bragging about it to the heavens.
Zapdos fell silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.
Then it asked:
"Was it that Pidgeot who flew here earlier?"
"Yes."
"I see..."
Soaking in the lake, Zapdos lazily rolled over.
A brilliant arc of electricity suddenly burst from its body and raced across the lake toward the shore.
There, a pink-colored Ampharos was enjoying this rare "Lake of Electricity."
Sensing the suddenly intensified Electric-type energy, it subconsciously opened its eyes.
Its vision was instantly filled with a sea of yellow.
"Amph..."
Ampharos instinctively tried to climb onto the shore.
But the electricity had already wrapped itself around its body.
Silas's hand instinctively moved toward the Poké Ball at his waist before he stopped himself.
"What is this?"
Zapdos replied impatiently,
"It's just a little gift. Why are you so nervous?"
Silas inwardly rolled his eyes.
You suddenly started shooting electricity without any warning. Who wouldn't be nervous?
Meanwhile, Haruto and Brock had only just processed what had happened.
"Z-Zapdos spoke?!"
"That was telepathy! Is that an ability all Legendary Pokémon can use?"
The two of them were once again overflowing with curiosity.
Fortunately, the latter part of the conversation had only been heard by Silas and Zapdos. Otherwise, the two would have been even more shocked.
Still, the situation was obvious.
Silas had clearly received a considerable gift from Zapdos.
"Why do all the good things happen to you?"
Haruto held his head helplessly.
However, there wasn't a trace of jealousy in his tone, only pure envy.
Brock felt exactly the same.
As friends, the two of them were genuinely great people.
As for Cynthia, it went without saying.
She wasn't interested in Zapdos's gift itself.
She was simply curious about what had prompted Zapdos to do this.
"A Rainbow Wing? That shouldn't be enough..."
Her eyes flickered thoughtfully.
The surrounding Electric-type Pokémon all looked at Ampharos with envy.
Haruto's Electivire and Luxray hadn't left empty-handed either.
Being the two Pokémon closest to Ampharos, they were also the closest to Zapdos's electricity.
The faintly flickering Electric-type energy surrounding them made it clear that they had gained some sort of insight during the process.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Time slowly passed, yet the electricity surrounding Ampharos showed no signs of changing.
Silas's expression gradually became more and more unusual.
"Are you sure it's okay?"
He had already asked Zapdos the same question several times.
"Uh..."
Zapdos had gone from being completely unconcerned to utterly confused.
By all logic, the charging process should have ended long ago.
Recovering from his initial shock, Haruto offered his own theory.
"Maybe there was simply too much electricity all at once, creating an excessive voltage problem, so Ampharos is instinctively resisting Zapdos's electricity."
Zapdos flapped its wings unhappily.
How was that possible?
Even in its weakened state, its control over electricity shouldn't be poor enough to make such a basic mistake.
It suddenly felt that this human wasn't particularly impressive.
Silas also didn't believe Zapdos would make such a rookie error.
"Maybe the reason lies down there."
Cynthia pointed toward the lake.
"You mean that crystal?"
Silas immediately understood what she meant.
"Exactly. The crystal's power, Zapdos's power, and Ampharos's own electricity may have mixed together and caused some unusual reaction."
Clearly, Cynthia's explanation sounded far more reasonable.
Haruto also nodded in agreement.
The problem was that even if they had guessed correctly, none of them knew how to interrupt the process without harming Ampharos.
Realizing that its good intentions might have backfired, Zapdos wasn't in a very good mood.
"I'll try."
With that, it flapped its wings and flew above the lake.
The arcs of electricity dancing across the water immediately became restless.
During this time, the electricity surrounding Ampharos became even more violent.
Several arcs would occasionally break away from its body and race wildly through the lake.
The surrounding Electric-type Pokémon fled far away.
Haruto's Electivire and Luxray ran especially quickly.
When Zapdos attempted to control those currents, however, the electricity surrounding Ampharos suddenly behaved as though it had a life of its own and shot directly toward Zapdos.
A hint of disdain appeared in Zapdos's eyes.
As an Electric-type Legendary Pokémon, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that attacks from electricity below Champion level weren't even worth blinking at.
Such electricity couldn't possibly harm it.
If anything, it would merely provide a tiny amount of restorative charge.
"Zaaap!"
Before it could finish that thought, the weakened Zapdos let out a reflexive cry.
The electricity that had erupted from Ampharos had left a scorched black mark on its feathers.
"As expected, just like you said."
A faint blue screen seemed to flicker in Silas's eyes.
"That electricity is no longer simply Zapdos's electricity anymore.
"Under the influence of the crystal's energy, Zapdos's electrical energy and the electricity inside Ampharos have reached a strange balance.
"In fact they may even be beginning to fuse together."
The certainty in his tone made Cynthia glance at him in surprise.
Without any instruments to analyze the phenomenon, the only reason Silas could speak with such confidence was because Zero had already provided the corresponding analysis.
There might be some margin of error.
But he was fairly sure he wasn't far off.
...
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