Frontier Town Greenbough Empirical Orchards

[Tetra]

"Look!" Koa shouted above the noise of the storm. "There!" Was that whatever was causing them?

After a moment's consideration, he surged to his paws. Whatever it was, he was going to try and find out. He focused for a split second, then broke into a sprint, chasing whatever the flash of movement was that he'd spotted.

Koa used Quick Attack!

 

[Chibi Pika]

"H-hey!" Xoco called out in alarm. "Whaddya think you're--"

With blinding speed, Koa launched himself at the blur, colliding with it headlong. Whatever it was, it was much larger than him. It took a step back, more out of surprise than anything. It obviously hadn't been expecting to get attacked...

But before Koa could follow up, the interloper lunged for him, pinning the Electrike under a set of massive golden talons. Now that it was standing still, the creature could be seen clearly for the first time. A gangly, long-legged frame, towering over Koa. Jagged, rust-colored plumage with stark black accents. Piercing yellow eyes, studying him.

Xoco swore under her breath. "Now we've gone and done it, crossing paths with the Roaming Cyclone himself," she whispered to no one.

 

[Butterfree]

"Wh--"

Before Dave could react, Koa had leapt into action, zooming at the orange blur - and in a second, he was pinned down by a gigantic flighless bird, two powerful legs and a sharp, pointed beak and angry, jagged feathers.

That was... one of those legendary Pokémon, right? One of the ones where the different cultures that'd worshipped it couldn't even agree if it was flightless or flighted or what type it was or what color or what it even did, but still called it by the same name? Zapdos? And now it was just casually standing here. The flightless version.

"Whoa, hey!" he said, feeling the fur on his back fluffing up automatically. "He just wanted to see who you were!"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"Koa, wait--"

Steven was too slow to grab and pull Koa back to shelter. His body moved on instinct, trying to follow, but suddenly the dust devil was gone and in its stead was-- A Galarian Zapdos?

"What?"

Steven gaped with wide eyes. They weren't even confirmed to be more than a rumor. A translation error of old, damaged field data and an unreliable eyewitness report. And yet there one was, staring back at them clear as day.

Remnants of wind still rattled the tree branches overhead, but everything else had slowed to a standstill. Steven found himself caught in the open, frozen halfway in his failed attempt to grab Koa.

Slowly he raised both hands, palms out and claws splayed wide, trying to show that they had no intention of doing anything more to aggravate the Legendary. Not with Koa currently in such a precarious spot. He tried to keep his voice as calm as he could.

"Sorry about that. Just here to repair the orchards. Didn't want to see any more of the fields get damaged."

They could ask why it was running around destroying farmers' fields after it let Koa go.

 

[Tetra]

Koa hadn't even meant to collide with it, just try and catch up to it, but it'd been moving so fast and he'd been running too and everything happened so quickly.

Next thing he realized, he was pinned on his back, looking up at his attacker. Trapped. Again. Yellow paws, razor sharp claws- No, talons. His heart caught in his throat and he stiffened. Zapdos? The one from Galar. A Saint?

"I'm sorry," he stammered. "I don't want to hurt you." Did it understand? Would it even care? His heart hammered as he tried to see if it understood, or if there was a way out.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Xoco seemed taken aback by Dave's words, like the idea of reacting to the Cyclone as if it were a person was a strange one. "Might as well try to see 'who' the wind an' the rain are," she muttered under her breath. "Y'can't reason with the Roaming Cyclone any more 'n a regular one."

The avian studied Koa for an endless moment, then lowered a long, pointed beak. But not to strike--to speak.

"'Hurt'?" the creature repeated, his voice reverberating with static. "Do you think yourself capable of hurting me?"

There was no sign of affront in his voice--the tone was one of intrigue and curiosity. Who was this child who would sooner strike the weather than flee from it?

 

[Tetra]

Even though he knew legendaries could speak, he still felt a rush of surprise to hear the Zapdos talk to him. It took him a good several seconds to gather his thoughts into something resembling a reply.

"N-no?" The power they had here was nothing compared to a Saints, from what he knew. He swallowed. "I mean, we don't want to fight." Craning his neck he tried to glimpse the others. "We're just trying to help the orchards." Maybe it didn't... realize? Surely they could just explain that these orchards were important. He knew by no Saints here weren't like his legendaries back home but surely it wasn't cruel?

 

[Chibi Pika]

"'No'?"

The Cyclone's expression fell, somewhat. Was he... disappointed? "Aren't you one of heroes of the Soja, as I hear it? Summoned from another world to save ours. A human." There was a subtle, jeering tone before he leaned in close and said, "Or have the humans of this era grown to be all talk?"

 

[Tetra]

"Why, do you want a fight?" Koa met its gaze unflinchingly. Maybe he wasn't trying to pick a fight but he had no intention of backing down from a Saints challenge either. "Because I'm not all talk."

Still, it was talking to him still, so that was good right? He nodded towards Dave and Steven. "Yeah, we were summoned here. But we're not all humans. We came because we heard a call for help. And we're here now because the orchards are getting damaged by the winds."

 

[Butterfree]

Was... was Koa challenging the fucking legendary to a fight? Did the legendary want him to challenge him to a fight? What the fuck was happening?

"Uh, yeah. Here for the orchards. Like, I work here." He waved a paw towards the ruined berry trees. "Mind leaving those alone? That's all we came for."

 

[Chibi Pika]

The Cyclone glanced briefly at Dave before his eyes dug into Koa once more. "And now, you've found the winds you were looking for. But what will you do now? Does your voice have the power to curb the wind?" There was a dangerous edge to his voice.

The pressure on Koa increased ever so slightly. Not enough to be noticeable at first, but...

 

[Tetra]

He glared at the Zapdos, still defiant, although... was his grip tighter? Not that he was scared. "Not my voice." And not alone. But maybe enough of them... The words came out through gritted teeth, and he narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out the Zapdos. Back home its flying type cousin was definitely one of the 'wilder' legends.

He'd said they'd found the 'winds'. Did that mean... "Are you destroying the orchards on purpose?" Koa almost didn't want to know the answer.