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"Hmph, quite arrogant… but do you really think you're still the same as before? Nidoking, use Sludge Bomb and teach it a lesson."
Seeing that Zapdos had been successfully provoked and was charging recklessly toward him, Sato felt a flash of delight. He immediately used telepathy to command Nidoking to intercept it.
"ROAR!!!"
At the thought of facing a legendary Pokémon head-on, the battle-hungry Nidoking had long been itching for a fight. Upon receiving Sato's order, he stepped forward to shield Sato, letting out a thunderous roar.
A massive sphere of purple energy rapidly condensed in his mouth, then shot forward as a highly compressed beam of toxic energy toward the incoming Zapdos.
Although Zapdos was an Elite-Four level Pokémon, after battling Sato and the League forces for so long, it was already heavily injured and utterly exhausted. It was only holding on through its powerful physique and sheer willpower.
Even so, its combat strength had dropped drastically. While its attacks still looked imposing, they were little more than a façade.
Nidoking, on the other hand, had been conserving strength during the earlier battle and had recovered most of his power.
Now, with a temporarily gained Lightning Rod ability boosting his Special Attack to astonishing levels—and further amplified by the Life Orb—his same-type Sludge Bomb was terrifyingly powerful.
As a legendary Pokémon, Zapdos could clearly sense just how dangerous that attack was. If it took the hit head-on, it might not die—but being crippled was a very real possibility.
That realization quickly cooled the rage ignited by Sato's Taunt. Spreading its wings, Zapdos rapidly ascended, trying to evade the attack.
Unfortunately, it was just a fraction too slow.
Nidoking's Sludge Bomb grazed the left wing of the energy form Zapdos had created with Brave Bird.
The collision instantly pierced through the energy construct, triggering a violent explosion of clashing energies.
BOOM—!!!
Moments later, Zapdos was blasted out of the explosion, its injuries worsening. It struggled to even stay airborne, panting heavily in midair.
Only now did Zapdos realize it had been too reckless.
Its greatest strength—Electric-type attacks—was completely useless against this opponent. Worse, it was already gravely injured, unable to display even a fraction of its usual power.
Meanwhile, the enemy held overwhelming advantage.
For some reason, all of Sato's Pokémon seemed to possess abilities similar to Ground-types—ignoring Electric attacks entirely and even absorbing electricity to grow stronger.
Take Nidoking, for example. Normally, Zapdos could defeat it easily with Hidden Power (Water). Yet now, it had lost in a direct clash—an unbearable humiliation.
The more it thought about it, the clearer it became: this battle could not be won.
A wise bird doesn't suffer unnecessary losses.
Zapdos quickly decided to retreat for now, recover using Roost, and settle the score later.
It shot one last glare at Sato and Nidoking, then—under the astonished gazes of nearby League personnel—turned and fled.
"Hmph, trying to run now? Not so easy. Crobat, use Mean Look! Nidoking, Ice Beam!"
Seeing Zapdos retreat, Sato smiled coldly and immediately issued commands.
At the same time, a faint blue glow flickered in his eyes as he secretly used telepathy to command Kecleon, who had been invisible all along.
Crobat, having recovered some stamina thanks to the gem-grade PokeBlocks Sato had given him earlier, was no longer on the verge of collapse.
In the next instant, Crobat's eyes glowed crimson as he locked onto the fleeing Zapdos. Illusory blood-red eyes appeared all around Zapdos, binding it in place.
Mean Look succeeded.
Zapdos was instantly restrained by an invisible force, unable to move more than ten meters away.
Having already suffered from this move earlier, Zapdos' anger flared again. But seeing Nidoking's powerful Ice Beam incoming, it had no choice but to use Protect to block.
However, just as it barely finished blocking the attack and prepared to descend and use Roost—
A second icy beam suddenly shot up from the ground behind it.
It was Kecleon.
Under Sato's command, Kecleon had used its invisibility to circle behind Zapdos and launched a surprise Ice Beam.
Like Nidoking, Kecleon had also gained the Lightning Rod effect earlier, boosting its Special Attack after intercepting Zapdos' Thunder.
Already on the brink of defeat, Zapdos was pushed over the edge by this attack.
Worse still, the secondary effect triggered—
A thick layer of ice rapidly formed, freezing Zapdos solid.
"Thud—!"
Encased in ice, Zapdos fell from the sky and crashed onto the ground.
Even so, as expected of a legendary Pokémon, it had not lost consciousness. Its eyes burned with unwillingness and fury as it stared at Sato through the ice.
Sato could clearly feel its rage and refusal to accept defeat, but he had no intention of letting it go.
A legendary Pokémon was now within his grasp—there was no way he would give it up.
In the next moment, a special Poké Ball appeared in his hand—its upper shell marked with a lightning emblem.
This was a Lightning Ball, obtained from an Electric-type specialist. Its effect was simple: it greatly increased the capture rate of Electric-type Pokémon.
"Winner takes all. No matter how unwilling you are, defeat is defeat… Go, Poké Ball!"
Sato used Teleport to instantly arrive in front of Zapdos with his Pokémon, then threw the Lightning Ball.
The ball struck the frozen Zapdos and absorbed it in a flash of red light.
Perhaps Zapdos was too weakened—or perhaps the Lightning Ball's effect was truly exceptional.
The ball shook violently on the ground…
Then, after a few moments—It stopped.
The red light on its button flickered… and went out.