Tia looked up at the dark, roiling clouds covering the sky. The air was charged with electricity, as if preparing for a giant thunderstorm. She sat on Emi’s back as she Surfed down the river alongside Route 10, and the growing storm combined with the fact they were on the water made her feel uneasy.
“Just a little closer,” said the man sitting behind her on Emi’s back, “and then you’ll be able to see that electric menace!” The man was a construction foreman at the Kanto Power Plant, and he was currently dealing with a serious problem.
Tia and Aidan had just passed through Rock Tunnel when they arrived at the Pokemon Center and heard the unfortunate news: the reconstruction of the Kanto Power Plant had been indefinitely delayed, due to a large bird-like Pokemon… whose description very closely matched that of Zapdos.
“It’s a good thing you two dropped by when you did,” the foreman said, “One more delay, and the Power Plant rebuilding project would be on the rocks!”
“Well, I’m sure we can do something about that Zapdos,” Tia replied, “The other Pokemon, however…”
“Don’t worry about them,” the foreman replied quickly, “We can take care of the other Pokemon. It’s just that… uh... Zapdos has taken over the building and won’t let us get near enough to do anything!”
They continued to Surf down the river until the foreman motioned them to stop. “Right here,” he said, pointing over to the Power Plant’s roof. “Whenever there’s a thunderstorm, you can see Zapdos from here, clear as day.”
They were startled by a large thunderbolt, landing directly on the roof. It lit up the darkening sky, revealing a large, yellow bird with jagged wings. It let out a piercing cry as it met the eyes of everyone watching from the river. Its gaze caused shivers to run down Tia’s spine, along with the tingling sensation of built up electricity.
“All right, let’s get out of here,” the foreman urged, “Before Zapdos decides to attack!”
They quickly Surfed back to the Power Plant and arrived ashore. The grounds were teeming with construction personnel, forced to stay outside due to Zapdos’ invasion.
Tia walked over to Aidan, who was setting up the capture equipment nearby.
“So how did it look?” Aidan asked.
“Magnificent,” Tia answered, “And downright terrifying.”
“Hmm.” Aidan pulled up a blueprint of the Power Plant’s floor plan on his laptop. “So we start at the entrance,” he said, pointing a finger at the screen, “and because of the debris, we can’t go directly upstairs to the roof. We’ll need to go through every room.”
“And we’ll have to watch out for the Pokemon,” Tia added, “Especially the Voltorbs and Electrodes posing as discarded items…”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Aidan remarked smoothly.
Tia smirked. “Unless your ‘collectivitis’ kicks in badly enough to risk opening potentially explosive lootboxes!”
Aidan scowled. “I do not have collecto- collectiv- whatever you just said!” he stammered.
Tia smiled at him sweetly. “And how many times have we gotten lost somewhere looking for treasure, when the Itemfinder points us into a hole, or over a cliff?”
“It’s just a hobby!” Aidan retorted, “And don’t deny that we’ve found some nice things while exploring!”
Tia giggled. “I know. I’m just messing with you!” She reached out and ruffled his hair. “You were looking so tense. You’ll get wrinkles that way!”
Aidan reached up, pressing her hand to his cheek, and smiled. “Where would I be without you?”
Tia smiled back. “In a hole, or over a cliff.”
The ruined rooms of the Power Plant were bathed in light as Tia and Aidan’s flashlights played along the walls.
Tia looked around at the peeling paint and the colorful, if lewd, graffiti sprayed on the walls, and shivered. She had been to the abandoned Power Plant before, but her focus then had been on her Poke Ball research. She didn’t remember the place being so unsettling, and the dark shadows around every corner, the sounds of fallen debris and wandering Pokemon, and the smell of rotten wood were beginning to get to her. And although the foreman had reassured them that there were no other people in the building, Tia couldn’t help but wonder if there was someone hiding nearby, out to get them.
The sound of thunder echoed through the building, making Tia jump, and soon enough, she could hear the noise of heavy rain falling outside.
She looked over at Aidan walking beside her, calmly aiming his flashlight straight ahead. He looked completely at home among the ruins, unlike her anxiety-filled self.
Aidan looked over at her with concern. “You okay?”
“Uh… sure,” Tia answered, “Just a little rattled.”
Aidan nodded. “Anyone would be, in a place like this.”
“You seem to be fine,” Tia pointed out.
“I’ve been exploring all kinds of ruined buildings since I was a kid,” Aidan said, “It’s kind of second nature to me now.”
Tia nodded.
“Don’t worry,” Aidan reassured her, “once we’re up on the roof, it probably won’t be as bad.”
“With a thunderstorm and Zapdos out there?” Tia said skeptically, “I don’t know what’s worse!”
They finally reached the staircase leading up to the building’s roof. Aidan moved forward, testing the first few steps with his foot, then proceeded to climb up.
“Be careful not to fall,” he said as they moved further up the stairs.
When they emerged onto the roof, the thunderstorm was in full force, with heavy rain falling and lightning flashing. Tia pulled up the hood of her raincoat and aimed her flashlight straight ahead, but she couldn’t see anything through the curtains of rain.
“Luna!” Tia called, sending out her Ampharos. The violet-fleeced Ampharos appeared with a shine. “Use Flash!” Tia said.
The circular ball on Luna’s tail flashed on with a brilliant light, reflecting against the myriads of raindrops and lighting up the night. Tia squinted, and at the far end of the roof, she could almost see the outline of jagged yellow wings.
“I see it!” Tia shouted through the storm, pointing straight ahead.
Aidan nodded and threw out a Poke Ball to reveal his Tyranitar, Tatra.
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind, and a loud, trilling bird call. Streaks of electricity filled the night, and Zapdos was revealed. It looked at Tia and Aidan with an imperious glare, and trilled a challenge.
As Zapdos swooped down to attack, Tia ducked. “Luna,” she shouted, “Power Gem!”
A sparkling ray of stone shards shot toward Zapdos like bullets. Many of the shards slammed directly into Zapdos, but it remained unfazed as it zipped past Tia and Luna with a blast of wind.
Zapdos let out an angry cry and fired a Thunderbolt at them, too fast for Tia to react. At the last second, the Thunderbolt was deflected by Luna’s Light Screen.
Tia looked up to see the remnants of the Thunderbolt dance around them, the raindrops acting as conductors. Luna kept the Light Screen up until the sparks fizzled out.
“That was… way too close,” Tia murmured, catching her breath. She looked up to see Zapdos coming back around to attack again.
“Tatra!” Aidan shouted, “Ancientpower!”
The Tyranitar levitated a group of large boulders and shot them directly at Zapdos, knocking it out of the sky. Zapdos fell a couple of feet, then banked its wings and hovered directly over the ground. It landed with a thud, and its wings immediately charged up for another Thunderbolt attack.
Tia gasped, and turned to Luna.
“Luna! Thunderbolt!”
The sky lit up as both Thunderbolts collided in mid-air, causing a loud thunderclap. The building below shook, and Tia looked down, now worried that the building would collapse from under them. She shot a worried glance at Aidan.
Aidan nodded, realizing the same thing, and turned to Tatra. “All right, let’s make this quick – Ancientpower!”
Tatra levitated another group of rocks, dropping them on Zapdos from above and causing Zapdos to hit the roof. It let out a cry as it struggled its way out of the rock pile.
Before Zapdos could free itself and lift off again, Tia turned to Luna.
“Power Gem!”
A blast of rock shards slammed into Zapdos, trapping it again and leaving it unable to move. With an angry bellow, Zapdos charged up its electricity again.
“Tia!” Aidan called out. “The Ball!”
Tia pulled a Legend Ball out of her coat pocket and threw it at Zapdos with all her might. The Ball sailed through the electrical waves, bounced against Zapdos, and sucked it inside with a red light.
The Ball bounced against the ground, covered in streaks of electricity. Crackling, it wobbled once… twice… a third time. Then it stopped.
Pulling on rubber gloves, Tia rushed toward the Ball, which had finally stopped crackling, and picked it up. Through the gloves, she could feel the lingering static clinging to the Ball. The insulation circuit appeared to have worked, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She looked up at Aidan and smiled.
Suddenly, the building below them started to rumble. Tia and Aidan looked at each other in alarm.
“The roof!” Tia blurted out.
“Let’s get out of here before it collapses!” Aidan said, recalling Tatra into his Poke Ball.
Tia recalled Luna, then sent out her Pidgeot, Windy. “Come on,” she said, getting up on Windy’s back and pulling Aidan up behind her. They flew off the building and down to solid ground right when the roof collapsed in.
When they landed and got off safely, the rain was stopping and the thunder was fading away. The foreman and the other construction workers ran over to them.
“Are you both all right?” the foreman asked.
“Yes,” Aidan answered. “We got out just in time.”
“And Zapdos?” another worker asked.
Tia smiled and held up the Legend Ball containing Zapdos. “We got it.”
The workers cheered, and the foreman shook both of their hands. “Thank you so much,” he said sincerely, “I don’t know what we would have done without your help!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tia said.
“Though we did make a mess of the Power Plant building…” Aidan mumured.
“Never mind that,” the foreman said, “We were going to demolish it and rebuild it anyway.”
The two of them said goodbye, and made their way to the Pokemon Center on Route 10.
Zapdos’ Legend Ball gave the following information when plugged into the capture workstation:
Zapdos
Level 70
Element Type: Electric
Average Electric Current: 760 kV
Capture Rate: 7.80
The Legend Ball was designed to withstand electric current from 1.5 volts (the voltage of a typical alkaline battery) to more than 765 kilovolts (the voltage generated by some power lines). The electricity generated by Zapdos fell at the higher end of the Legend Ball’s threshold.
Tia looked at the Legend Ball in her hand, amazed that she held a Pokemon so powerful in the palm of her hand.
“It feels unreal, doesn’t it?”
Tia turned to Aidan, who sat down next to her and handed her a cup of hot chocolate. She took the cup gratefully, took a long sip, and smiled. The warmth of the drink spread through her chilled bones.
“Seeing a Pokemon so powerful, and being able to battle it…” Tia murmured, “It’s no wonder they were worshiped so long ago.”
“I have some info about Moltres that we can follow up on next.”
Tia perked up. “Already?”
Aidan nodded. “But after what we just went through, maybe we can take a short break.”
Tia smiled. “Treasure hunting?”
“You know me too well,” Aidan chuckled. “And I promise we won’t end up in trouble because of the Itemfinder.”
Tia laughed. “We’ll see.”