It was only the stubborn will of a so-called "legend" that kept it conscious.
"Jiji…" (Hah… this power… it's strong…)
Zapdos panted; every needle-sharp feather on its body had frozen solid.
It stared at the slowly descending Articuno, the fatigue in its eyes plain to see.
It couldn't win. Not at all.
And it had no idea how the human before it had managed to bring such a powerful Articuno to heel.
"Kyrii!" (My strength is more than you can imagine!)
Articuno snorted twin streams of white frost and cast a contemptuous look down at Zapdos.
Heh.
Just a Zapdos—another easy mark for Bird Grandpa.
One Blizzard had sent it tumbling. Don't even call it Zapdos—"spiky bird" suits it better.
All it has going for it are those stiff feathers.
"Jiji…" (Damn it… I lost… but I won't go live in human society with you!)
Zapdos lifted its head and forced out the words on what breath it had.
"Kyrii." (Oh please, we don't even want you. You foul, spiky freeloader—you disrupted the local balance, robbed a bunch of Pokémon of their food, and still lost to me after gorging. Hogging resources just to waste them—what a joke.)
Articuno shot Zapdos a withering glance, then drifted back to Grey's side and stood quietly, grooming its pristine plumage.
"Kyrii." (Grey, let's not play with a Pokémon like this. It's rotten—wrecks the environment, bullies ordinary Pokémon, drags our 'legendary' name through the mud.)
Articuno kept muttering about Zapdos.
The moment it entered the Abandoned Power Plant, it had already understood the situation here.
These Pokémon had been pooling their current, feeding the plant with what they gathered from nature's storms.
Over time, the plant kept running that way.
Self-sufficient.
Then Zapdos swaggered in on species advantage and seized the place—no different from bandits in the human world robbing innocents.
A "legendary" preying on common Pokémon.
A stain on legends.
Articuno looked down on that.
"Poli." (True enough. Articuno, you finally said something that isn't bird-brained.)
Poliwhirl popped out of Grey's ball and stood beside Articuno, nodding along.
Articuno could be a bit scummy sometimes—
But it had never seized anyone's food stores.
It had just holed up on the Seafoam Islands to rest, barely touching the larder there.
And once Grey reached an understanding with it, its true colors came out: a glutton at heart—
Stomach growling, a bit lazy, sure.
But when there was work to do, it worked; when trouble hit, it showed up.
"Jiji!" (Y-you two! What's wrong with me eating a little electricity? You want me to starve?!)
Zapdos's face burned under Articuno and Poliwhirl's scolding.
Even those hard, dark eye-corners shimmered with a few hot drops.
"Kyrii!" (Crying after a couple of sentences? Aren't you supposed to be a legend? Speak up! Weren't you bragging about your 'legendary pride' a minute ago? Where'd it go?)
Articuno stepped in close and swatted Zapdos a few times with a broad wing.
It tingled—unpleasantly.
Articuno only tapped it twice, then kept chewing it out with an unmoved face—
While cursing in its heart.
Static as an Ability—what a pain!
"Jiji…" (I… I…)
"Alright, enough. Ease up, Articuno—no need to boomerang this back on us later."
Grey stepped between them, arms out to block their lines of sight, breaking up the one-sided scolding.
Even he was tired of hearing it.
To avoid a future comeback clap, he urged Articuno to watch its mouth.
"Zapdos, do you know what you did wrong?"
With Articuno restrained, Grey turned his gaze back to Zapdos to see whether it had reflected at all.
"Jiji?" (What did I do wrong?)
Zapdos looked blank.
Hearing Grey's question, it truly didn't know.
Isn't foraging the most natural thing in the world?
"..."
Grey's expression hardened; his eyes narrowed and his lips parted. "Your mistake was stealing the power these Pokémon saved over a long time."
"To you, it's a few heavy meals—gone in days."
"But for them, this stockpile is life support. Without human hospitals, when they fall ill, that power is how they survive."
"So tell me—if you gorge and walk away, and someone in here gets gravely sick right after—what then?"
"Jiji…" (I… uh…)
The question hit so hard Zapdos's heart seemed to skip.
Almost stopped.
Had it only thought about itself?
But if it didn't feed on power… how was it supposed to grow stronger…
For a moment, Zapdos didn't know right from wrong.
From its vantage point, it was only doing what came naturally—
But to the others, it had brought calamity.
"Rai-rai!" (Yeah, exactly. And you call yourself a legend—yet you've got less sense than a human about this.)
The Raichu Zapdos had zapped earlier hobbled over with help, baring its teeth against the pain and taking a jab at Zapdos.
Grey: "…"
Fine, complain, but "less sense than a human," huh?
Guess humans don't rate high in your book either?
"Rai-rai." (I got heated—poor choice of words. My bad.)
Raichu shot Grey an apologetic look, then fixed on Zapdos; the emotion in its eyes had shifted a lot.
"Rai…" (Forget it. Go.)
In the end, Raichu sighed.
Zapdos hadn't taken that much. Let it go.
"Jiji." (…Thanks.)
Zapdos gave Raichu a small bow, then flared with blazing current and drove a surge back into the plant's batteries.
In an instant, several units flashed to full.
When it finished, Zapdos spread its wings to leave.
"Knowing you're wrong and fixing it—that's as good as it gets."
Grey nodded his approval.
"Kyrii." (Wait. Do you want to come with us?)
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