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Magnet: When a Pokémon holds this item, the power of Electric-type moves increases by 50%, and the power of Self-Destruct moves increases by 100%.
Chris dug up a Magnet in the middle of a vast grassland, surrounded by hypnotized Voltorb and Electrode.
Hamlin Island had an unusual geography—a large forest surrounded a prairie, and the most common Pokémon on that prairie belonged to the Voltorb evolutionary line.
The Electric-type secret treasure "Magnet" was indeed well-suited for Pokémon like Voltorb and Electrode. Unfortunately, Chris's only Electric-type Pokémon was Zeraora, and it certainly wouldn't be using Self-Destruct moves.
Placing the Magnet into his backpack, Chris planned to take it back and sell it at his breeding shop. He believed this would be a fairly valuable secret treasure for many breeders training Voltorb or Electrode.
"Is there anything else here?" Chris pulled out the treasure detector again.
The detector's pointer deflected once more, but the magnitude of the deflection was weaker than before. Each find seemed to be less valuable than the last.
This time, what the treasure detector had found was probably just an ordinary held item, or perhaps a secret treasure that ranked among the lowest tier.
It seemed that Hamlin Island's resources were rather limited after all.
"Let's go. Time to head to the next island," Chris said, putting away the treasure detector and preparing for Gardevoir to teleport him to the next island.
With Gardevoir's strength, teleporting between islands was well within her capabilities.
However, before Gardevoir could make her move, Chris suddenly noticed the sky above growing dark. When he looked up, he saw pitch-black clouds gathering overhead, with dark red currents of electricity crackling through them. A powerful and oppressive aura surged toward him.
"What kind of powerful Pokémon is approaching?" Chris wondered aloud.
Gardevoir immediately took on a vigilant stance, her eyes glowing with purple light as she activated Future Sight. She was ready to teleport Chris away from this location at any moment.
"BOOM!" Thunder crashed with such force that the sound nearly deafened Chris.
A massive bolt of dark red lightning fell from the sky, striking directly at Chris's position.
However, at the moment of impact, Chris had already teleported several hundred meters away from his original spot.
It was at that precise moment that Chris realized these dark red clouds were specifically targeting him.
"You dare to come looking for me?" Chris smiled, throwing a Poké Ball with a backhand motion. "Let me see who you are!"
"Zeraora!"
Silver light flashed as Zeraora landed on the ground, releasing a powerful roar. "RAAAH!"
It could sense that a strong Electric-type Pokémon was hidden within those dark red thunderclouds, which ignited its fighting spirit.
This was one of the reasons Chris had sent out Zeraora. His Zeraora possessed the Volt Absorb ability, which gave it an inherent advantage when fighting against Electric-type Pokémon.
But before Chris could command Zeraora to attack the dark red clouds and reveal what kind of Pokémon had the audacity to assault him, a menacing figure burst forth from the crimson storm, releasing a sharp, piercing cry.
"SCREEEEE!"
The black silhouette dove like a fighter jet making a death-defying strike toward the ground.
Seeing the attacking figure, Chris was momentarily stunned. Then sudden realization dawned on him, and the corners of his mouth curved upward in a wide grin.
The Electric-type Pokémon attacking him was none other than an old friend.
Zapdos. Level 91.
An old friend in every sense of the word.
Among Legendary Electric-type Pokémon—not counting the purely territorial one from the Power Plant that he'd had no real conflict with—Zapdos was the Legendary Pokémon Chris had encountered most frequently.
At the Power Plant, he'd stolen a treasure called "Zapdos's Treasure" from a Zapdos.
In the spatial rift where Theodore had been trapped, in order to capture Zeraora, he'd also driven away a Zapdos that possessed powerful spatial manipulation abilities.
Adding the one before him now, that made three encounters!
However, to be more precise, Chris had actually only seen two different Zapdos.
The Zapdos diving toward him with murderous intent was the same one from whom he'd stolen "Zapdos's Treasure" at the Power Plant.
It wasn't that Chris recognized this particular Zapdos on sight—it was the Zapdos's cry that told him everything he needed to know.
"SCREEE! (Damn thief! I finally found you!)"
"Zeraora," Chris called out calmly, not retreating even half a step as he extended his hand to give a command.
"Plasma Fists!"
"RAAH!" Zeraora responded with a loud cry, fearlessly charging toward the Zapdos in midair.
Brilliant white sparks surged upward while streaks of red electricity descended.
The two forces collided violently in midair, producing a massive explosion. Black smoke billowed outward like thick fog, nearly replacing the dark clouds in the sky and covering all of Hamlin Island.
Zapdos's large, fierce body quickly burst free from the smoke, but it hadn't escaped on its own—it had been knocked out of the smoke's range by Zeraora.
In the first exchange between the two Pokémon, even though Zapdos hadn't used Electric-type moves and had been diving with momentum from above, Zeraora still gained the upper hand.
There was no helping it—the current Zeraora was nothing like the Zeraora that had been chased by Zapdos in that spatial rift before. With its current strength, this Zapdos likely wouldn't last three moves against it.
What's more, Zeraora was now equipped with "Zapdos's Treasure."
Standing on the vast prairie, Chris watched the battle unfold with a smile on his face.
Having Zeraora attack Zapdos while wielding the very treasure that originally belonged to this Zapdos—it felt almost like poetic justice.
After landing that first hit, Zeraora kicked off the air with both feet, using electromagnetic force to increase its flight speed once more. Its fists flashed with dazzling white light as it closed in on the Zapdos hovering in midair.
Zapdos didn't remain passive either. It quickly adjusted its stance, its wings beating continuously and rapidly, creating invisible sharp blades.
This was the Flying-type move Air Cutter—transparent slashes that were fierce and fast. At such high altitude, most Pokémon would find them difficult to dodge.
But for Zeraora, who had mastered a technique combining Thunder Wave and Mind's Eye to recreate something similar to the Observation Haki used by Enel in the anime, dodging these seemingly transparent but actually perfectly visible attacks was child's play.
Zeraora added another burst of speed with Quick Attack. With the combined power of both Plasma Fists and Force Palm techniques, it could deliver devastating punches.