Greeting each other? Lillie tilted her head, a big question mark appearing on her forehead. Is this really just a greeting?
She felt like it wasn't at all like that. The feathers on Zapdos were standing up like a porcupine, and it was chirping non-stop, 'chirp, chirp, chirp'.
It felt... more like it was swearing, right?
Even Leah, who was extremely uncomfortable due to ornithophobia, couldn't help but roll her eyes. She squinted at the two birds—Articuno and Zapdos—yelling at each other. It didn't seem so scary after all.
Even though they were legendary birds, were they really like this?
"Alright, Articuno, stop arguing with it."
Dylan spoke up, interrupting the 'sweet talk' between the two birds, then turned to Zapdos with a gentle smile.
"Zapdos, are you willing to become my Pokémon now?"
"Chirp!"
Zapdos proudly raised its head, showing that it would never bow down to a human, especially not one with a bird like Pidgey.
"Good, very energetic." Dylan nodded in satisfaction.
"Articuno, use Ice Beam and send this distant relative on its way."
Dylan called to Articuno. Since Zapdos wasn't being cooperative, he decided to knock it out first and then capture it.
Articuno let out a cry, and a ball of ice-blue energy formed in front of its beak.
"Chirp? Chirp, chirp, chirp!"
Zapdos was startled and quickly spoke up.
"Aren't you supposed to be unyielding?" Dylan asked with a playful smile.
"Chirp…"
Zapdos hesitated. It didn't want to be captured by a human, but it also didn't want to be knocked out by Articuno.
That would be so embarrassing, especially after just exchanging words with Articuno. No, it couldn't lose face like that!
"Well, let's make a deal. If you become my Pokémon, I can make you as strong as Articuno here."
"Chirp??"
Zapdos's eyes immediately lit up with excitement.
Articuno humanized a roll of its eyes. This foolish bird was so easy to deceive, its brain seemed to have shrunk.
"Of course. When I first captured Articuno, it wasn't as strong as you, but look at it now."
Dylan's smile was warm, and his tone sincere.
"What's the point of absorbing electricity here? You could absorb it for a year, and you still wouldn't surpass my Articuno. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Chirp!!"
Zapdos immediately made its decision. It wanted to become stronger. It wanted to defeat this Pidgey and make itself the boss of birds!
What this human said was true. Although it could absorb the electricity here to recharge, doing so wouldn't help it reach its goal.
And… if it didn't agree, it would still be beaten by this Pidgey. It wasn't worth it.
"Those who know when to yield are wise birds. Zapdos, you have a bright future."
Dylan nodded in satisfaction. This Zapdos was smart and realistic. He liked it.
"Ultra Ball, go!"
Dylan threw the crimson-colored Ultra Ball at Zapdos. Zapdos raised its head arrogantly as if posing.
The Ultra Ball made contact with Zapdos, and it was sucked inside as a red light.
Ding, ding, ding~
The Ultra Ball shook three times before it stopped.
"Zapdos, captured."
Dylan picked up the Ultra Ball with a satisfied expression. It was much easier than he had expected. If Zapdos had resisted, he would have wasted dozens of Great Balls, just like the time with Regirock.
But since Zapdos was willing to be captured, it made things much easier.
"Articuno, good job."
And the main contributor, of course, was Articuno.
"Yiao~" Articuno chirped happily, then looked at Dylan, as if negotiating.
"Alright, you can supervise Zapdos's special training, but don't go too far. We're all teammates now."
Dylan nodded, reminding it. Though he knew Articuno would give Zapdos a hard time, a little competition in the team was fine. It could motivate Zapdos to improve.
"Yiao~" Articuno promised it wouldn't go too far.
Leah: (.)
Lillie: (—)
After watching the entire scene, Leah suddenly lowered her head and thought deeply. It seemed like her ornithophobia wasn't really necessary. Why was she so afraid of birds?
This legendary bird was like this?
"It's really not bad, looks pretty strong."
After recalling Articuno and releasing Zapdos again, Dylan sprayed Zapdos with a high-level healing spray.
Zapdos puffed out its chest, proudly calling out. Of course! Bird Boss is strong!
"By the way, Dylan, didn't your 'Power of Viridian' have healing abilities? Why do you still prefer using healing sprays?"
Leah leaned against Lillie. Though her fear of birds wasn't as strong now, she was still a bit weak and needed to recover.
"The Power of Viridian consumes my mental energy. If I use it too much, I'll get dizzy, while healing sprays only consume useless numbers."
Dylan didn't even turn around. The Power of Viridian was now more of a special ability to communicate and bond with Pokémon.
As for healing abilities… well, he had almost forgotten about that function.
"Really makes sense," Leah muttered, unable to argue. The young master was rich.
"Team Rocket must have come to the power plant to capture Zapdos. We got to it first. What's our next move?"
After a while, Leah was able to stand properly, but she still didn't dare get too close to Zapdos.
"I have a good idea." Dylan's lips curled into a smile as he looked at Zapdos. It looked like they had more fun ahead.
Too bad he didn't capture the Galar Zapdos. Otherwise, it would have been a small shock to those guys from Team Rocket.
"?"
Zapdos tilted its head, looking at its trainer.
...
At the entrance of the abandoned power plant.
At this moment, there was a small elite team of ten members from Team Rocket, and at the front was Lt. Surge, who was slightly disguised.
"This power plant is so run-down. Is Zapdos really here?"
Karen, with her long fingers covering her brows, gazed ahead with a lazy, magnetic voice.
Will silently observed the surroundings, not saying a word.
"According to the intel, it's accurate. We'll see how you all perform once we go inside."
Lt. Surge shrugged, then looked at Karen and Will with interest.
"Since the boss recommended you two, I guess you should be quite capable?"
Lt. Surge wasn't familiar with Karen and Will, two officers transferred from the Celadon City branch, but according to Sakaki, their skills were impressive.
Originally, Zapdos was his task to capture, but Giovanni had sent Karen and Will to assist him, wanting him to evaluate their abilities.
"Ah~ coming to Kanto for the first time, capturing a legendary Pokémon like Zapdos… I wonder if they'll be able to do it."
Karen gently cupped her white cheek with her right hand, a malicious curve on her lips, her voice lazy and casual.
Though she said 'I wonder if they can do it', her demeanor showed no sign of pressure at all.
Lt. Surge glanced at Karen. This woman definitely fell into the "absolutely unpleasant" category, similar to how Proton used to be.
Speaking of Proton...
Lt. Surge's gaze shifted slightly. Proton's personality used to be quite bad, but for some reason, when they met at a base recently, Lt. Surge felt Proton had undergone a subtle change.
Lt. Surge couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Proton seemed much more relaxed about everything. Even his personal hobby of "teasing" subordinates—a term that basically meant "showing off"—appeared to have faded.
And then there was Archer. Archer had also changed subtly. While still reliable and trustworthy in terms of abilities, he seemed to space out often when alone. Nobody knew what he was thinking.
It was truly strange.
"The boss values both of you very much. I heard that in Johto, Charr also thinks highly of you."
Lt. Surge led the group into the abandoned power plant, curiously asking Karen and Will.
"Charr, that short guy... Senior Charr is quite the character," Karen replied with a malicious smile, as if recalling something.
Did you just call him short?
Lt. Surge was slightly surprised and glanced at Karen. Charr, a senior officer among Team Rocket's elite, was not well-liked by many other senior officers.
After all, that short guy was completely unhinged, cruel, and arrogant, always carrying several "bombs" around with him.
Lt. Surge really disliked Charr, but Karen and Will used to work under him.
"Hahaha~ Don't worry. I can't stand that damn shorty Charr either, but you two aren't senior officers yet, so it's best not to offend him openly. That guy holds grudges."
Lt. Surge laughed heartily. He was generally easygoing, and though a senior officer of Team Rocket, he wouldn't have joined if it weren't for Giovanni.
"Ah~ Thank you, senior," Karen said politely with a smile.
The Rocket Team ventured deeper into the power plant, the faint golden light ahead becoming clearer.
"It's just ahead. After all, it's the legendary Zapdos. Be careful. If you need support, let me know," Lt. Surge warned Karen and Will.
Karen raised an eyebrow, her impression of Lt. Surge improving slightly. She hadn't expected him to be so decent.
Will remained silent, continuing to blend into the background.
"Leave it to us, senior. It's just a Zapdos. We can handle it," Karen said with a gentle smile, though her smile always carried an unsettling malice.
A mere wild Zapdos? How hard could it be?
Karen scoffed inwardly. She considered herself to be at champion-level strength, certainly not weaker than other champions.
A mere Zapdos? It probably wouldn't even require her to step in—Will could likely handle it on his own.
As they turned the corner, they entered a spacious generator room, where the source of the golden light finally came into view.
But...
A golden bird stood there, napping. Its golden feathers resembled sharp needles. It definitely looked like Zapdos, but the key issue was...
How could it be so fat?
Its body was round like a ball, especially its belly—a huge, rounded lump. Compared to its chubby, spherical body, its head and neck looked almost miniature.
Was this a bird? If not for the wings, one might have mistaken it for a pig!
Lt. Surge and the others were stunned!
"Is this... Zapdos or a Zapdo pig?"
For a long time, one of the Rocket Team members blankly asked, "Can its wings even make it fly?"
"Meow??"
It seemed like the Zapdos took offense to that comment.
Who's calling me a pig? Who said that??!! Are you showing any manners? I'm a cute and mysterious cat, not a pig!
The atmosphere grew more awkward.
"Meow??"
Is that how Zapdos sounds?
Lt. Surge silently pulled out his Pokédex to scan this "Zapdo pig," suspecting one of his foolish subordinates had made a mistake. Could this really be Zapdos?
He needed to double-check to avoid any errors.
Ding~ Zapdos, Electric/Flying type, Electric Pokémon.
Abilities: Synchronize
Signature Move: ...
Description: "When the sky turns dark..."
Lt. Surge fell silent. This did appear to be Zapdos, and the Pokédex wasn't wrong.
But the image of Zapdos in the Pokédex looked nothing like the creature before him.
"Senior, do you really think capturing this Zapdos will be useful for the organization? Or is it just for research purposes?"
Karen, looking at the plump Zapdos that probably couldn't even walk properly, politely asked Lt. Surge.
"Forget it. It must have been eating too well outside. Anyway, it's the boss's mission, so let's capture it."
Lt. Surge sighed. As an Electric-type specialist, when the "Legendary Birds Project" started, he had volunteered to catch Zapdos.
He had been looking forward to seeing the legendary Zapdos, but after seeing it up close...
Well, it would've been better if he hadn't.
(End of Chapter)