Chapter 61: Zapdos Strikes

As the seawater slowly receded, revealing a city occupied by Tentacool, the people, whether they liked it or not, now had to make a final effort to defend this land.

Once they had retreated to a safe place, they spontaneously sent out their Pokémon, trying to launch a counterattack while holding off the advance of the jellyfish.

Seeing this, Brock also took out a Poké Ball and said to Blake and the others, "Let's help out too!"

"But..." Ash hesitated, "How are we supposed to fight a giant thing like that?"

"Don't think about that for now!" Blake released his own Pokémon at that moment. "Let's first drive back those smaller Tentacool! Kirlia, Gyarados, Jolteon, Ivysaur, and Wartortle, you go too!"

Things had come to this, and everyone had no other choice, plunging into the battle one after another.

Ash sent out Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, while Brock brought out Zubat. Only Misty still wanted to try and quell this riot through persuasion.

"It's no use." Seeing Misty trying to step forward and stop them, Blake quickly pulled her back. "Until Tentacruel's anger subsides, it won't listen to human explanations. Only by first making it calm down can we communicate with it!"

If it had been anyone else, given Misty's personality and differing opinions, she would have certainly retorted a few times. But facing Blake, she did not want to argue with him no matter what. Her stance changed instantly, and she nodded obediently.

"Alright, then I'll help too. Go, Staryu, Starmie, Goldeen!"

As the trainers' Pokémon continuously joined the fray, the battle officially began. Clashes broke out in almost every corner of the city.

With a melee of this scale, giving individual orders to the Pokémon anymore was clearly impractical. People could only let them act on their own, allowing the Pokémon to fight freely based on past experience and instinct.

However, the number of Tentacool was simply too overwhelming, not to mention that giant Tentacruel. After fighting for a long time, the human side still hadn't gained any real advantage.

Seeing the battle at a stalemate and the city suffering such severe destruction, Blake knew in his heart that it was perhaps time to do something.

With this thought, he hesitated slightly, turned to Misty, and said softly, "I'll leave my Pokémon in your care for now. I need to step away for a moment."

"Eh?" Misty asked, confused, "Where are you going?"

Blake raised a finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture without saying much. Amid Misty's curiosity, he quietly slipped away from the crowd alone and headed behind the TV tower.

Walking to an unnoticeable corner, Blake squatted down and took the Gengar mask out of his backpack.

Haunter crawled out from his shadow. Shrewd as it was, it had long guessed Blake's intentions.

"Are you really planning to do this?"

Blake countered, "What? Are you trying to stop me?"

"How could that be?" Haunter let out its signature eerie chuckle. "I love the lively atmosphere the most! How could something like this happen without me?"

"Then I'm counting on you to watch my back!"

Blake put on the mask and spotted a black raincoat that had drifted from somewhere, currently wrapped around a bush. He walked over, picked it up, and draped it around his shoulders like a cloak.

Very good, covered tightly. Even someone familiar with him wouldn't easily recognize his identity!

Having prepared everything, he released Zapdos.

As soon as Zapdos appeared, it spread its wings and let out a loud cry. Being a legendary Pokémon, even after being transferred to a different Poké Ball, it still disliked staying in that kind of small, confined space.

"Zapdos, today's opponent is a big guy and quite powerful. It's all up to you."

Zapdos stared at Blake for a few seconds without refusing, simply nodding reluctantly.

"Great." Blake pointed toward the spire of the TV tower and said to it, "Then take me up there first!"

!!!

Hearing such a command, Zapdos widened its eyes, appearing utterly incredulous.

It let out an impatient squawk, as if warning Blake not to push his luck! Do not treat it like those ordinary birds that humans could ride at will!

"Hey, hey, don't look at me like that." Blake spread his hands. "Kirlia isn't here, so I can't use Teleport to get up! Besides, the view up there is wide, which is just right for commanding the battle!"

Zapdos twisted its head and looked at Haunter.

"It won't work either." Blake shook his head quickly. "Haunter is always by my side, and people would easily recognize my identity through it, so I really have to trouble you with this!"

With that, regardless of whether Zapdos agreed or not, he hugged its neck and climbed onto its back.

Zapdos wriggled its body, trying to throw Blake off, but Blake hugged it so tightly that no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't shake him off.

"Alright, don't be so stingy." Blake gently soothed its emotions. "Let's not delay any further. This city urgently needs our rescue, so let's get moving!"

Helpless, Zapdos sighed, flapped its wings, and soared high into the air, carrying Blake toward the top of the TV tower.

Only after actually riding Zapdos did Blake truly realize that its feathers, much like Jolteon's, were somewhat stiff and prickly. Not only was it very uncomfortable to sit on, but if you smelled closely, you could even catch a faint scent of electricity.

The sea breeze brushed past Blake's hair.

Zapdos was extremely fast. After just a few flaps of its wings, it had already reached the rooftop at the top of the TV tower.

Blake loosened his grip and smoothly jumped down onto it.

Pointing at the giant Tentacruel in the distance, he said, "Look over there, that Pokémon is Tentacruel, and it's your opponent this time. Don't let its massive size fool you—it's just a Water and Poison type. In terms of type advantage, we have the absolute edge!"

This was also the first time Zapdos had seen such a colossal creature. A fierce fighting spirit ignited in its eyes, and with a thunderous cry, it flew straight toward Tentacruel!

Down below, the battle was intensely fierce. Although the trainers' Pokémon were stronger individually, the number of Tentacool was simply too vast. Usually, several jellyfish were ganging up on a single Pokémon.

Just as people were feeling increasingly overwhelmed, someone suddenly noticed an anomaly above. Looking up, they caught sight of a golden streak of lightning cutting across the sky!

"Look, it's Zapdos!!"

Someone shouted, and the surrounding trainers all looked up. When they saw that it truly was the legendary Pokémon—Zapdos—they were all struck with shock and disbelief!