"Aren't you all getting a bit too excited? My Zapdos is just an ordinary Pokémon, it's not as amazing as you think," Red said calmly, telling everyone not to get so worked up.
Not just Gary—even Ash looked at his brother speechlessly, while Leaf stared blankly at Red.
After all, what Red said sounded way too pretentious. Fortunately, they all understood his personality and assumed he was just being "modest."
Seeing their misunderstanding looks, Red didn't bother explaining further. After all, his starting lineup was even stronger than Zapdos, so he didn't feel particularly excited about its legendary status.
At this moment, even someone as dense as Ash understood what it meant for Red to have captured Zapdos.
This was a Legendary Pokémon trainer—someone far beyond what ordinary people could match. Yet in Red's words, it sounded so ordinary, as if Zapdos really were just a normal Pokémon.
"Maybe Red just has a broader perspective, so he sees Zapdos as something more ordinary," Leaf explained, and both Ash and Gary nodded in agreement.
Hearing Leaf's words, Red nodded as well. After all, his Zapdos didn't hold any divine position—strictly speaking, it really was just an ordinary Pokémon, only with legendary blood flowing through it.
In Red's view, Zapdos' current strength didn't come from its bloodline talent, but from its own hard work.
Talent alone doesn't decide everything—effort is the best proof of strength.
That was also one of the reasons Red always ignored Zapdos' legendary identity—to motivate it to train diligently.
Although they had calmed down a bit, the three still looked forward to seeing Zapdos in action.
With Red's permission, Professor Oak led them to the backyard courtyard, preparing to explain its design in detail.
They followed Professor Oak into the courtyard, where a cute Doduo walked over and warmly greeted Gary—it was the Doduo Gary had captured.
"Hey, my sweetie, doing well?" Gary smiled.
"So that's Gary's Doduo."
Ash's old habit kicked in as he immediately took out his Pokédex to analyze Doduo's data.
"Doduo, the Twin Bird Pokémon. Discovered as a mutation with two heads. It can run at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour."
"The Pokémon here all seem to live very healthily," Brock remarked, watching the Pokémon roaming freely in the courtyard.
"Of course. This courtyard was designed so that the Pokémon in my care can live naturally, as close as possible to the environment they had before being captured. It's also very important for studying individual differences," Professor Oak explained proudly.
Sensing the fighting intent in everyone's gaze, Red's eyes glowed with a deep blue light as he used his psychic power to call Zapdos over from afar.
"What is that?!" Gary exclaimed.
Ahead of them, the sky suddenly filled with thunderclouds. The sunlight was swallowed by dark clouds as bolts of lightning crackled and fell one after another. Then, surrounded by electricity, Zapdos made its grand entrance.
"The sky darkens, thunder falls endlessly… truly worthy of being a legendary Pokémon…" Leaf said in amazement, momentarily stunned by Zapdos' arrival.
"My lawn…"
Seeing the grass ahead scorched by lightning, Professor Oak sighed helplessly.
"…"
Seeing this, Red calmly used his Power of Viridian to gradually restore the burnt lawn, greatly improving Professor Oak's mood.
After landing, Zapdos hopped over like a ground chicken, bouncing its way to Red and rubbing its head against his cheek, completely lacking its earlier divine aura.
The others were utterly stunned seeing Zapdos act so affectionate. Was this really the same majestic Zapdos from before?!
Noticing the strange looks around it, Zapdos stiffened for a moment, then coughed a few times and straightened up, puffing out its chest and looking proudly at Ash and the others.
"If you all want to battle Zapdos…"
Red stopped halfway through his sentence. If they were strangers, he wouldn't hesitate to let all three challenge Zapdos at once and defeat them without mercy.
But Ash and the others were different. Red didn't want this battle to negatively affect their future performance.
So he changed his mind and used his psychic power again, calling over Kabutops and Omastar.
Moments later, the running Kabutops and the rolling Omastar arrived and immediately gathered around Red.
"Let's have a 3 vs 3 battle. I'll use Zapdos, Kabutops, and Omastar."
Although it was still one against three, it felt far more reasonable than having Zapdos fight alone.
"Red really is a thoughtful kid," Professor Oak said with satisfaction.
"What kind of Pokémon are these?!" Ash exclaimed, only to find that his Pokédex couldn't analyze Kabutops and Omastar at all.
Seeing this, Red silently took out his own Pokédex and provided their data.
"Kabutops, the Shellfish Pokémon. Rock and Water type. It swims quickly with its slender body and uses its scythe-like arms to tear prey apart and drain their fluids."
"Omastar, the Spiral Pokémon. Rock and Water type. Its tentacles are highly developed like limbs, and it bites opponents while tightly restraining them."
To give Ash and the others an advantage, Red deliberately revealed the types of both Pokémon.
"Pikachu, I choose you!"
Ash said excitedly, sending out his ace, planning to use type advantage to defeat Kabutops and Omastar.
(For those unfamiliar: Rock type does not resist Electric type, so Electric moves deal double damage to both Pokémon.)
"In that case, I'm counting on you—go, Nidoking!"
After some thought, Gary decided to send out Nidoking to counter Zapdos, then gave Leaf a look, signaling her to use a Pokémon that could completely counter the two ancient Pokémon.
"Then I'll leave it to you—come out, Venusaur!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Leaf threw her Poké Ball and sent out her starter Pokémon, Venusaur.
Seeing Venusaur appear, Kabutops and Omastar couldn't help but show signs of weakness—they were four times weak to Grass-type moves.
"Not a bad lineup… except…"
Red looked somewhat speechlessly at the excited Ash and Pikachu. He wondered if they would still be smiling so happily once they learned that Zapdos had the Lightning Rod Ability.
Lightning Rod was extremely effective in team battles. Just like its name suggested, Zapdos could absorb incoming Electric-type moves, nullify them, and boost its own Special Attack.
This meant Kabutops and Omastar would be completely immune to Pikachu's Electric attacks. They only needed to guard against Nidoking and Venusaur.
Unless Pikachu had learned a multi-target or field-wide move capable of bypassing Lightning Rod.