Chapter 58 Zapdos: I'm flying away!
"~"
Zapdos in the air sensed the Pokémon appearing behind it.
Its sharp eyes were fixed on the Charizard charging towards it, scorching flames gathering in Charizard's mouth. The next second, a fire ray pierced through the air, striking Zapdos's body directly.
Zapdos's figure weaved through the thunderclouds, the flames passing through them without touching its body. Just when Red thought Zapdos was deliberately avoiding the battle,
a bolt of lightning surged from the thunderclouds, colliding head-on with Flamethrower.
Electric-type Thunderbolt! Boom! Thunderbolt and Flamethrower collided repeatedly. Both moves were incredibly powerful, and the strong winds kept slapping Red's body. Thunderbolt pierced through Flamethrower, and Charizard had to stop unleashing its moves, flapping its wings to change its trajectory.
The bolt of lightning, before it dissipated, struck the water's surface directly, instantly blasting away the weaker Pokémon.
"Such immense power! Is this the legendary Pokémon?!"
Red was seeing a Pokémon directly penetrate his Charizard's Flamethrower for the first time.
The aftershocks even sent Magikarp flying from the sea; this power alone was beyond Red's ability to withstand.
"As expected, the thunderclouds affected Zapdos's strength."
"At least its strength has increased by a significant level."
Bai Yu looked at the thunderclouds. Due to the unmanned power plant, the lightning field here was particularly intense. Combined with Zapdos's weather effect upon entering the battlefield, this double boost had propelled Zapdos's strength to a whole new level.
However…
an explosion came from the unmanned power plant, destroying the original lightning field, and the thunderclouds would soon dissipate.
Just as Bai Yu had predicted, with the earlier explosion, the number of thunderclouds noticeably decreased. After Zapdos unleashed its Thunderbolt, the number of thunderclouds actually decreased instead of increasing.
The Zapdos before us is harnessing the power of nature to unleash extraordinary strength.
In the Kanto region, there are no legendary birds at the Champion level; even the chieftains are at most close to Champion, never surpassing them. The
Zapdos before us is displaying moves exceeding the level expected of an Elite Four member.
"It shouldn't last long~"
Bai Yu was certain of this. Red couldn't stop Zapdos, and if it wanted to escape, even
Akiko herself might not be able to stop it.
With the support of thunderclouds, Zapdos's escape speed was among the best of all Pokémon.
The legendary birds were so difficult to catch, partly because of their rarity, and partly because their escape speed was far superior to the legendary beasts.
Zapdos's personality was the same in both Kanto and Galar regions; it loved to escape, and its escape techniques were absolutely top-notch.
"~"
Just as Bai Yu had thought, Zapdos sensed that its control over lightning had diminished considerably.
It already had injuries, and a prolonged battle would be very disadvantageous for it.
The unmanned power plant no longer had enough lightning to replenish its power, and now Zapdos's mind was filled with only the word "relocate."
"Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
High in the sky, Red was sitting on Charizard, with limited moves available.
Red could only use Flamethrower to constantly look for opportunities. Once an opening was found, Red would jump off Charizard, allowing it to unleash powerful attacks like Dragon Dive.
This time, Charizard unleashed the flames it had been holding back, the scorching flames piercing through the thunderclouds, but Zapdos didn't unleash any other attacks.
By the time Red reacted, Zapdos had already flapped its wings and left the abandoned power plant.
"Zapdos, that guy still managed to escape."
"He was defeated by that Charizard whose strength hadn't even reached Champion level yet, quite embarrassing."
In Bai Yu's memory, the three legendary birds were indeed quite impressive when they first appeared, but unfortunately, their coolness only lasted three seconds.
Not long after their appearance, they were controlled by the villainous forces and turned against their elder brother, Lugia.
The three legendary birds in Origin were slightly stronger, at least until Red won the championship before being defeated. By then, Red had already reached Champion level, so crushing the three legendary birds was naturally a piece of cake. Later, he even underwent Mega Evolution and defeated Mewtwo, who couldn't communicate telepathically.
Of course, this Zapdos in front of them was no weakling either. In Bai Yu's opinion, it was definitely at the level of a clan leader. An ordinary Zapdos, when injured, wouldn't have been able to hop around for so long, nor would it have been able to generate such a powerful thundercloud.
"Bai Yu, you seem to know a lot about the three legendary birds?" Sabrina voiced her inner doubts.
In her view, a Zapdos that could control lightning was enough to surpass most Pokémon. Zapdos is hailed as the God of Thunder, while the other two are known as the Gods of Fire and Ice respectively. It's surprising that Bai Yu so readily dismisses these Pokémon.
"I understand a little. I can only say that those three Pokémon aren't as powerful as you imagine."
"There are many Pokémon in this world stronger than those three."
"Compared to them, the three legendary birds only slightly benefited from the power of nature."
Bai Yu was speaking the truth; legendary Pokémon are extremely rare in the Kanto region.
Aside from Ho-Oh, which appeared once, there's only that artificial god.
However, Mew is, in a sense, no less powerful than a legendary Pokémon.
After all, Mew was the first Pokémon created in the entire Pokémon world; it can be said that Mew is what gave rise to such a diverse array of Pokémon.
Of course, Bai Yu wouldn't reveal this.
Whether it's Mew or other legendary Pokémon from other regions, they are all secretive entities in this world. Even those evil organizations spent over a decade barely managing to find traces of them.
"Is that so?" Sabrina sensed that Bai Yu was holding back something, and a hint of doubt appeared on her face.
Since Bai Yu didn't want to say, Sabrina wouldn't force him.
None of the three legendary birds held much meaning for Sabrina at this point.
Having clearly realized that her premonition of the future was a mistake, Sabrina abandoned the idea of joining Team Rocket.
...
At the unmanned power plant.
"You guys are really in a sorry state~"
The red-haired youth slowly approached, followed by a Dragonite.
The previous explosion had severely injured Lorelei and Shiva's main Pokémon, while the Voltorb were all unconscious and lying on the ground, some even killed by the aftershocks. The surviving Voltorb were also seriously injured and likely to die without immediate treatment. As for
the workers, they suffered varying degrees of injury, and some who were closer to the explosion's epicenter unfortunately died in the blast.
The entire unmanned power plant was a terrifying hell on earth.
Lance stared at the scene of carnage before him, the image of Team Rocket flashing through his mind. Only those guys would do something so insane; this wasn't the first time it had happened.
The newcomer was none other than Lance, who had arrived!
Lance stared at Lorelei and Shiva. As one of the Kanto Elite Four, a trainer with strength comparable to the Champion, how could Team Rocket have turned this place upside down?
He'd only been away from the Kanto region for a short time, and the entire region had become a mess, with Team Rocket's presence everywhere.
"Is this the Kanto you've managed?" Lance's tone was accusatory. He
could compromise on anything, but not on this!
He despised Team Rocket's way of handling Pokémon, and he believed that, with the exception of a very small number of trainers, the rest of the Kanto trainers were unworthy of controlling Pokémon.
Many times when he dealt with Team Rocket's bases, he disregarded the safety of the surrounding towns; in his eyes, as long as he did it, it meant he was right.
"Lance! Remember, you're not the Kanto Champion now, and it's not your place to question me," Lorelei coldly replied.
Her cold eyes were filled with anger; only those lunatics from Team Rocket could so severely damage their Pokémon in this way.
However, Team Rocket can't pull off such explosions many times.
They consume a large number of Voltballs and require a significant amount of manpower.
Next time, Team Rocket won't have that many Voltballs.
Even if they did, the League would have corresponding Pokémon to deal with them.
The Kanto Elite Four's settings in the special episode differ from their anime counterparts. To balance this, the Elite Four are defined as an organization recognized by the League, with a certain responsibility to protect their regions. However, each Elite Four member has a different personality; those who know from the Lance special episode understand. They're slightly toned down, not as violent, but still capable of some outrageous actions.
Regarding Zapdos—the three silly birds—a brief explanation: the difference between the leader and ordinary birds lies in the strength of their control over nature. Simply put, the leader is stronger, and the ordinary birds are weaker. It's that simple.
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(End of Chapter)