High above the sky, Silas lightly patted Miraidon and asked in confusion,
"Why did you suddenly attack it just now?"
"Rai!"
Miraidon twisted its neck, turning its head toward Silas, blinking in confusion as well.
It seemed to be saying—aren't we here to fight?
Silas rubbed his forehead helplessly and said, "Let's go down first. In a moment, we'll have to ask Chatot to help invite Zapdos out. We'll talk things through properly and try to resolve this peacefully if possible."
"Cha-tot~"
Chatot chirped twice, agreeing to Silas's request.
Miraidon, however, was clearly displeased and puffed out its cheeks.
There was no need for all this trouble—earlier, when it had only recovered part of its strength, it had already beaten Zapdos until it went bald. Now that it was at its peak, how could a mere Zapdos possibly withstand even a single exchange with it?
Although it felt this was unnecessary, Miraidon still obediently followed Silas's instructions. One human and two Pokémon descended outside Sea Spirit's Den.
Crackling electrical sounds echoed wildly inside the pit, and several golden-black feathers drifted down casually.
Despite Zapdos's extremely high resistance to Electric-type attacks, Miraidon's sudden lightning strike earlier had still caused it considerable damage.
Silas instructed Chatot to enter the cave and speak with Zapdos, to see if it was willing to come out and talk properly.
At the same time, he reminded Chatot that if Zapdos showed any abnormal behavior, it was to call for help immediately—Miraidon would rush in at lightning speed.
"Cha—"
Chatot flapped its wings and flew into the cave.
Silas, meanwhile, picked up the fallen Zapdos feathers, and an information panel appeared before his eyes.
[Zapdos Feather: A common feather shed by Zapdos, containing a certain amount of lightning power.]
Good stuff!
Silas's eyes lit up as he stuffed them all into the satchel at his waist.
Legendary Pokémon really were treasures from head to toe.
He couldn't help but think darkly—if he plucked Zapdos completely bald, just how many feathers would he get?
Of course, Silas only thought about it.
Compared to plucking Zapdos into a flightless chicken, he'd much rather become friends with it.
That way, he'd have an endless supply of Zapdos feathers.
Heh heh heh!
While Silas and the others waited patiently outside, Chatot encountered Zapdos deep within the cave.
Zapdos was currently in a miserable state—covered in soot, its feathers all standing on end from electrocution, with a faint burnt smell lingering in the air.
To think that it—lord of birds, master of lightning—would one day be injured by someone else's lightning.
Though it was only a minor injury and Zapdos could recover at any time, the humiliation was immense.
If the other two damned birds found out, who knew how viciously they'd mock it.
This was beyond embarrassing!
A lifetime of prestige, ruined in one day.
Zapdos buried its head deep into the ground, radiating an air of utter despair.
Chatot glanced at it, then turned to the surrounding flock, asking them about the details before flying over to Zapdos.
It patted Zapdos with its wings to comfort it—but what it said next landed another critical hit.
"Cha-tot~"
(Zapdos, it's normal that you couldn't beat Miraidon. You didn't win last time either—it's nothing to be ashamed of.)
"Zap! Dos!"
Zapdos jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, loudly protesting. But its voice gradually grew weaker, its confidence draining away.
It suddenly realized—maybe it really wasn't the other party's opponent.
And now, its home was being blocked as well.
"Zap?! Dos?!" (Chatot, whose side are you on? Why are you helping them instead?!)
Zapdos chose the soft target and vented its anger at Chatot.
Luckily, Chatot was extremely experienced in soothing bird Pokémon.
Before long, Zapdos was calmed down.
Chatot then gently proposed its suggestion.
"Cha-tot~" (Their Trainer has come too. They're here to reconcile this time. How about going out and talking it through?)
"Cha-tot!" (And let's be honest—this whole thing started because of you. You insisted I go with you, but I still have an entire flock to take care of.)
...
"Rai~"
Miraidon shifted into its battle form, its electronic eyes locked onto the cave entrance while its tail wrapped protectively around Silas, pulling him behind.
What emerged from the cave was first a flash of golden light, followed by Zapdos's tense and cautious figure.
Two battles, two defeats. According to the original agreement between Zapdos and Chatot, Chatot had won.
Zapdos was supposed to join Chatot's flock and obey Chatot's commands.
Zapdos hypnotized itself—it wasn't doing this willingly. It was merely honoring the agreement and listening to Chatot. That was all.
This was how it preserved its last shred of dignity.
Not because it was afraid of Miraidon.
Absolutely not!!!
After calming Miraidon, Silas stepped forward, taking out a prepared high-grade Biscuit from his satchel.
At the same time, he apologized to Zapdos on Miraidon's behalf.
"Zapdos, Miraidon attacking you earlier was its fault. Please forgive it. Consider this biscuit a token of apology."
"Zap! Dos!"
Zapdos lifted its chin, wearing a proud, tsundere expression.
But after Chatot pecked it twice, Zapdos reluctantly accepted Silas's apology.
It stretched out its long, sharp yellow beak and pecked at the biscuit, biting off a piece.
The flavor of white truffle spread through Zapdos's mouth, and it froze in surprise before narrowing its eyes in enjoyment.
In the blink of an eye, it devoured the rest of the sablé without leaving a single crumb.
Delicious!
Zapdos loved it.
After eating Silas's sablé, Zapdos's wariness toward him dropped significantly.
Silas offered it another ordinary sablé with one hand while gently reaching out to pet Zapdos with the other.
Zapdos glanced at the food, then at the human.
For the sake of delicious biscuit… I'll endure it!
Enduring and enduring—Zapdos ultimately fell completely.
It lazily lay down on the ground, mouth open, clearly waiting to be fed.
There was not a trace left of the fierce aura it had shown earlier.
Hmm!
If not for the bald head, Zapdos would actually look pretty good right now.
But as things stood—
With that shiny bald head, it looked like a clown.
The high-grade biscuit Silas had fed earlier had increased Zapdos's friendliness and restored its condition.
The charred feathers from the lightning strike gradually returned to their normal color, and its injuries fully healed.
Soon after, Silas sat cross-legged in front of Sea Spirit's Den.
Cyclizar was on his left, Kangaskhan on his right, standing guard like two divine protectors.
In front of him sat Chatot and Zapdos, beginning their "trial."
Through their discussion, Silas finally understood the whole story.
Zapdos had followed Lugia's trail to Shalour City. Upon encountering Chatot, it kidnapped it, intending to take it away.
As for the reason—it stemmed from Chatot's exceptionally high affinity with bird Pokémon.
This triggered Zapdos's possessiveness.
Chatot naturally refused—it had its own flock to lead.
They made a bet: if Chatot could defeat Zapdos, Zapdos would not force it.
That led to everything that followed.
A domineering rich lady falling for a poor country boy?
Something about that analogy felt off.
Whatever. Since things had come this far, it was time to wrap it up peacefully.
Glancing at Zapdos's bald crown from the corner of his eye, Silas asked, "Zapdos, can your head crest grow back?"
"Zap! Dos!"
Zapdos buried its head in the ground again.
Don't bring that up, you jerk!
"How about coming back to my ranch with me? You know—us humans have all sorts of strange inventions. Maybe something could help you regrow your feathers quickly."
"Zap! Dos!"
Zapdos instantly teleported to Silas's side, gesturing for him to get on and urging him to depart immediately.
(End of Chapter)