Lightning Island.
"Captain Matt, we have lost contact with the first team. The second team has also been wiped out."
Behind a large rock, a man in Team Aqua uniform spoke to the radio with a terrified expression.
"What about the third team? Let them go up. You just need to hold the attention of the Zapdos. The main support will be there soon."
The man smiled bitterly, "Our team is down to half. We..."
But before he could finish what he was about to say, the call was cut off.
In despair, the radio fell from his hand. Looking at the scene in front of him, he really wanted to escape.
Unfortunately, he couldn't. Team Aqua would hunt him down for betraying Team Aqua. Thinking of what would happen to him later if he was caught, he shuddered in fear. Instead of being hunted down, it would be better for him to go up and fight. There might be a small chance for him to survive. He simply didn't have the courage to betray Team Aqua.
Including him, there were only six people left alive.
After he told what Captain Matt had said to the others, everyone fell silent. Through the radio, he could hear the others sighing in despair. A few even cursed angrily.
Facing the furious Zapdos in the sky, they very well knew that they weren't going to get out of this alive. They didn't even know whether the main support was going to arrive.
Boom!
The sharp cry of Zapdos came as the thunder boomed all around them. Lightning flashed across the sky, almost illuminating the entire island.
A few moments ago, he was having a nice sleep when someone sneaked into its nest and attacked him. Seeing that someone dared to enter his territory, he woke up in anger and chased them out.
Everyone watched Zapdos spread his wings in the sky. His large wings nearly covered the sun, and the bright yellow feathers flickered with lightning. Lightning flashed in his eyes as he gave them a death stare.
Unbeknownst to them, a large airship was flying in the sky above them. With the existence of the thunderclouds of Lightning Island, Zapdos Electric-type energy had increased greatly. If they wanted to successfully capture him, they must get rid of the thunderclouds first.
For this reason, Lawrence even took the risk of sending his airship into the thunderclouds to absorb the lightning energy.
"Golem, Rock Tomb!"
"Onix, Rock Throw!"
The remaining six members of Team Aqua ordered their Pokemon to attack Zapdos even if they knew their effort was pointless.
The Golem formed several large rocks around it and shot them at Zapdos in the sky. Onix also fired multiple rocks from his mouth. Tons of rocks flew across the sky at high speed.
To their horror, Zapdos simply dodged those rocks without much effort. They became desperate as they ordered their Pokemon to continue their attacks on him. Many people had already died, but they couldn't even land a single hit on him. They already tried everything they could. This was their last struggle.
Zapdos opened his fierce eyes and spread out his wings. The lightning crackled between his wings as he disappeared in an instant, leaving behind a yellow trail in the air.
He appeared in front of them and fired an icy blue sphere from his mouth. The sphere broke into six beams, locking on the six Pokemon from Team Aqua.
Everyone's face paled with fright. The surrounding temperature rapidly cooled down.
In the sky above them, a large airship was hovering.
"Is this Hidden Power?"
The scene in the center of Lightning Island was transmitted to the monitoring room of the airship.
Matt crossed his arm, wrinkling his brows. He might have underestimated the strength of Zapdos. Moltres was much easier to catch.
Hidden Power was a very special skill. Although it appeared as a Normal-type attack, Hidden Power's actual type varies.
Zapdos just now used the Hidden Power - Ice. Even though it was far less powerful than the ones used by an Ice-type Pokemon, it completely restrained the many Rock-type Pokemon they prepared. Thankfully, he didn't have any means to restrain the Ice-type Pokemon Lawrence lent them.
The six ice beams struck the slow-moving Rock-type Pokemon. They screamed in pain and fell to the ground unconscious. Their whole body was covered in ice.
Seeing that, the remaining Team Aqua members fell on their knees. Under the threat of death, they no longer cared about Team Aqua.
They jumped to their feet and scattered in different directions without even taking their Pokemon back. Anyway, those Pokemon weren't even theirs in the first place.
Matt looked at the six people who were running away with a sneer on his face. In his eyes, these guys were already dead. Zapdos wouldn't simply let them get away.
Boom!
Thunder boomed once more, along with a sharp and piercing cry from Zapdos. Hearing that, they increased their speed as they frantically ran away from the canyon.
Zapdos became angry after seeing those guys running away. His temper was the most irritable among the three legendary birds. If they attacked the other legendary birds, they might have a chance to survive.
Lightning covered his whole body as he suddenly disappeared once more.
In a blink of an eye, he reappeared behind one of them.
Listening to the cry of Zapdos behind him, his face became pale. He gritted his teeth as he ran as fast as he could.
"I don't want to die!"
Unfortunately, Zapdos didn't give him that chance. He lowered his head and flew forward. His long, thin and sharp beak was pointing at the man in front of him.
The man felt a stab of pain in his chest. He looked down subconsciously and saw an orange beak pierced through his chest.
He coughed as blood trickled from his mouth. He felt he was going to lose consciousness before he fell to the ground unwillingly with his eyes closed.
More than a few minutes later, the furious Zapdos had finished dealing with the remaining people from Team Aqua.
Matt, who witnessed all of this happening, didn't even bat an eye. Most of the other people couldn't even bare to watch it. After all, these were their own companions.
No one dared to say a word for fear of angering Captain Matt in front of them. They sat quietly at their desks and completed their work.
In Matt's mind, these sacrifices were worth it. As long as they were able to catch Zapdos, they would obtain more funds and help from Lawrence. He was doing this for Team Aqua.
"You guys continue to monitor here. Oh, and one more thing, tell the person who joined the festival to lead the participants on Lightning Island to the marked location."
After Matt left a few reminders to his men, he strode out of the room under everyone's eyes. He took the elevator to the top floor of the airship, where Lawrence's room was located.
"Please enter your password."
A female voice rang out. It belonged to the artificial intelligence system, Weis, the operator of the Flying Palace airship. Many rooms in the airship were strictly off-limits. If someone was caught breaking in without a password, Weis would take them out as soon as possible.
Matt stood in front of the metal door and said.
"Art is an eternal beauty."
After he said the correct password, the door was slowly opened. When he stepped in, he saw a long corridor covered in red carpet leading up all the way into the room. There were several glass cases on both sides of the walls. They were showcasing Lawrence's collection that he collected throughout the years.
Blaziken, Sceptile, and Swampert from Hoenn. Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard from Kanto.
All of these Pokemon were placed in the glass display cases. Their eyes were wide open. Their bodies were stiff as they posed in various postures. At first glance, they seemed to be no different from living Pokemon. However, he knew that these Pokemon were already dead for a long time.
Using a special method, these Pokemon were turned into a specimen and could be preserved for a long time.
Some research labs also did this. Only the Pokemon was already dead before they were turned into a specimen.
Lawrence's collections were different. These were all living specimens. He remembered Lawrence saying that he made some kind of chemicals that could turn Pokemon into a specimen during their best state.