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"Charizard, Sceptile, Lucario, Garchomp, Venusaur, Gengar - Mega Evolve!" Eddie commanded decisively.
"Greninja, you use your Bond Evolution too."
To maximize the intimidation factor, Eddie directly evolved all the Pokemon capable of Mega Evolution, while Greninja also transformed.
For a moment, the entire forest was bathed in brilliant, dazzling light.
After several seconds, all the Pokemon that could evolve had completed their transformations. Even Eevee had shifted into its Leafeon form.
Mega Charizard Y, Mega Sceptile, Mega Lucario, Mega Venusaur, Mega Garchomp, and Mega Gengar now stood before the group of Pikachu with overwhelming presence and fierce determination.
The sun overhead began shining more intensely, and even the Pikachu noticed this dramatic change.
This was the effect of Drought, Mega Charizard Y's signature ability.
"Pika..." the lead Pikachu whispered in awe.
When the group of Pikachu witnessed the spectacular Mega Evolution display, their bodies, which had already been showing signs of panic, now began trembling with genuine fear.
Even the leader Pikachu felt an enormous threat radiating from the transformed Pokemon. Its entire body tensed with anxiety, and it no longer dared to shout defiantly at Eddie.
Just moments ago, it had been confident in its ability to handle Gym-level Pokemon, but now that confidence had completely evaporated. The opposition had suddenly become far more powerful, and the Pikachu realized it probably couldn't even defeat the Peak-level Mega Gengar, let alone the entire team.
"Gardevoir, go ahead with your mediation. If anything dangerous happens, use Teleport to return to me immediately. I'll handle the rest," Eddie said gently to his Psychic-type Pokemon.
He had made such an overwhelming display of power solely to ensure Gardevoir's safety during the negotiations.
If it weren't for Gardevoir's intervention, Eddie believed the two sides would inevitably have fought.
In that scenario, even if he ultimately captured the Pikachu, the incident would create lasting resentment between trainer and Pokemon.
When trainers and Pokemon couldn't get along properly, their actual combat effectiveness would suffer significantly.
Eddie wanted to capture this exceptional Pikachu, but he wasn't willing to compromise his principles to do so.
Eddie's philosophy was straightforward - he recognized that this Pikachu was remarkable, but he would never humble himself just to obtain it.
The capture had to happen on proper terms. This unusual Pikachu was similar to his Snorlax in being a problematic but powerful Pokemon that Eddie wouldn't want falling into anyone else's hands.
As for what would happen after the capture, if the Pikachu refused to cooperate with him, then it could simply retire alongside Snorlax.
While this would mean Eddie would lose a potentially excellent main team member, it was still preferable to forcing an unwilling partnership.
Fortunately, Gardevoir's actions had prevented the immediate outbreak of hostilities.
As long as Gardevoir could successfully convince the Pikachu colony, Eddie still had a chance to gain this remarkable Pokemon's cooperation.
Gardevoir nodded happily to Eddie, understanding completely that he had made this intimidating display purely to protect it.
While secretly determining to resolve the misunderstanding between both sides, Gardevoir slowly approached the lead Pikachu.
The Pikachu didn't dare make any rash moves, so they allowed their leader to communicate with the diplomatic Psychic-type.
As Gardevoir began conversing with the Pikachu leader, Eddie waited patiently for the outcome.
During this time, Blastoise, still wearing its signature sunglasses, approached Eddie's side.
"Blastoise, blastoise!" the Water-type complained enviously.
Especially when looking at Venusaur, Blastoise's jealousy was almost palpable.
Both Pokemon had obviously similar strength levels, so why could Venusaur undergo Mega Evolution while it was left out?
Eddie, with his Power of Viridian allowing him to sense his Pokemon's emotions, could feel Blastoise's frustrated thoughts, causing him to develop a mild headache.
This Pokemon, even after evolving from Wartortle to Blastoise, still maintained its mischievous personality. If it ever started causing trouble in the future, it would definitely be a handful.
"Why are you in such a rush? You don't have your Mega Evolution Stone right now. You'll be able to evolve naturally when the time comes," Eddie explained patiently.
Eddie wasn't opposed to Blastoise undergoing Mega Evolution, but he simply didn't possess a Blastoisinite at the moment. What could he do? It was useless for Blastoise to pester him about it.
"Also, look at Eevee and Snorlax - they can't Mega Evolve either, right? They're not jealous about it, so you're the only one bothering me with complaints," Eddie pointed out, gesturing toward the two mentioned Pokemon.
"Blastoise, blastoise! Blastoise blastoise blastoise!" (Eevee can evolve and devolve at will - what does it have to be envious about? And Snorlax just eats and sleeps all day because it's simple-minded. It wouldn't envy anything!) Blastoise retorted immediately.
The Water-type presented its argument with what seemed like perfectly reasonable logic, appearing quite convinced of its own position.
"Oh my goodness, this guy actually makes sense. I don't know how to respond to that," Eddie muttered, finding himself unable to refute Blastoise's surprisingly logical complaint.
Several metaphorical anger marks appeared above Eddie's head as he processed this frustrating situation.
"Are you looking for trouble? Because if you are, we can accommodate you right now..." Eddie said to his Pokemon without any trace of a smile.
After his warning, Mega Charizard Y approached Eddie and grinned menacingly at Blastoise, clearly indicating its willingness to help with any necessary discipline.
Charizard had been annoyed with Blastoise for quite some time, especially as one of the original Kanto starter trio.
Both Charizard and Venusaur maintained a natural competitive relationship, not to mention Blastoise, whose Water-typing gave it an advantage over the Fire-type.
When Blastoise saw Mega Charizard Y approaching with obvious hostile intent, it immediately began trembling and didn't dare speak another word.
As Eddie's first Pokemon partner, everyone on the team understood that Charizard held the position of big brother among Eddie's Pokemon.
Basically, only Garchomp dared to challenge Charizard's authority on a daily basis.
Though if Pupitar ever evolved into Tyranitar, it might also start provoking Charizard regularly.
After all, the position of team leader was also symbolic of being the strongest, in a sense.
Among Eddie's Pokemon, the more battle-oriented members naturally wanted to test themselves against Charizard's dominance.
Originally, Greninja had been the most likely candidate to defeat Charizard. After all, its Protean ability made it immune to type disadvantages, and after Bond Evolution, its strength wouldn't be significantly inferior to Charizard's.
However, Greninja had no such ambitions. It was close friends with Charizard, and both Pokemon had been Eddie's partners from day one, fighting side by side through countless battles. How could it possibly turn against Charizard?
Besides, Greninja's personality was more like that of a loyal ninja. As long as Charizard remained faithful to Eddie, Greninja and Charizard would basically never come into conflict.
But returning to the current situation, Blastoise naturally wanted to compete for the position of team leader. It had been the "leader" of its previous group before joining Eddie, so having such aspirations was completely normal.
However, after comparing its own strength with its opponent's capabilities, Blastoise immediately abandoned that idea.
It didn't matter that its Water-typing gave it an advantage over Charizard's Fire-typing. As soon as Charizard Mega Evolved into Charizard X, the type advantage would disappear entirely.
Among Kanto's three starter Pokemon - Charizard, Venusaur, and Blastoise - their strength levels were actually quite similar under normal circumstances. But as soon as Charizard Mega Evolved into its X form, it would definitely defeat the other two.
One had to acknowledge that Charizard was truly the developers' favorite, aside from Pikachu itself.
In any case, Blastoise was genuinely intimidated by Charizard. Now that the Fire-type was present, Blastoise didn't dare cause any more mischief.
After all, while Eddie would only scold it for bad behavior, Charizard would actually resort to physical punishment.
Since Blastoise couldn't defeat Charizard in battle, it naturally wouldn't engage in such a pointless act of getting beaten up for no reason.