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.

 

[Chibi Pika]

And with that, Zapdos's eyes lit up, as if this was what he'd been waiting for. "Nature does not have purpose. It does not have reason. Nature simply is."

The giant avian stood bolt upright, no longer crouched low over Koa. The winds were now encircling the Wayfarers--in the center, where they stood, the air was calm, but with an electrifying tension.

"Purpose, reason--constructs of those who call themselves civilized," Zapdos hissed, as if the word were something foul. "Storms have crossed this continent for eons and not once has their toll held any narrative purpose. When disaster strikes, it strikes, and people will try to find meaning in it, because that is what they are like."

As Zapdos spoke, he punctuated the story by scratching into the dirt with a single claw. Crude stick drawings of a large gathering of Pokemon on a hill, surrounded by what appeared to be a cheering crowd.

"For instance. A just world might say that heroes summoned here from the great beyond are fated to face their enemies in an epic battle."

Then a single, oversized talon slammed into the dirt, scrubbing the drawing out.

"But what if a natural disaster were to strike their place of rest, and kill them in their sleep? Wouldn't that be the most dreadful anticlimax?"

Zapdos leered at Koa, the corners of his beak curling upward. "And yet, such disasters happen every day."

The avian's expression was a cross between amusement and anticipation. He was goading them, all of them, that much was obvious. But was this genuinely random, or did he want something...?

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

As Zapdos spoke, Steven's expression shifted from surprised concern, to one of puzzlement. What the legendary was saying didn't make sense.

"All creatures act with reason, civilization or not," he said. "Hunger, shelter, survival, those are reasons all living beings share."

"We're talking with you now; a thinking, reasoning being, and you claim that you act without purpose?"

Steven looked at the destroyed orchard around them, battered again by Zapdos's swirling winds, and narrowed his eyes.

"Let me guess, there was no greater purpose as to how only the barren fields were damaged, while those who would lose their harvest were spared? Simply dumb luck that nature spared the livelihood of so many?"

 

[Tetra]

Koa was beginning to think he did not like this Saint at all. Zapdos hadn't actually answered the question, not really. Instead he'd gone into a rant about storms and disasters? Acting as if he weren't a thinking creature who could act or not act on reason? Anger pooled in his chest. Did Zapdos just not care?

Steven spoke before he did. His voice distracted Koa from a moment from his anger as he listened. Steven was right, Zapdos had hit the already harvested fields... So was there something else going on? "Unless you're into calling yourself stupid or mindless you're not some thoughtless dust devil," Koa growled. "You're making choices, same as any living being with thought."

 

[Butterfree]

And with that, Zapdos's eyes lit up, as if this was what he'd been waiting for. "Nature does not have purpose. It does not have reason. Nature simply is."

The giant avian stood bolt upright, no longer crouched low over Koa. The winds were now encircling the Wayfarers--in the center, where they stood, the air was calm, but with an electrifying tension.

"Purpose, reason--constructs of those who call themselves civilized," Zapdos hissed, as if the word were something foul. "Storms have crossed this continent for eons and not once has their toll held any narrative purpose. When disaster strikes, it strikes, and people will try to find meaning in it, because that is what they are like."

Dave stared at the bird. Was this guy serious? "Right. So you're... boasting that you just act brainlessly at random? That's not exactly the fucking flex you seem to think it is."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Zapdos glanced between the various glowering faces, idly tapping a claw on the ground.

"'Making choices,' you say?" His tone was hard to make out. Idle, casual? He didn't seem offended by any of the things they'd said. More... impatient.

The wind continued to encircle the gathering, fencing them all in.

Tap, tap tap...

"And if I 'choose' something you disapprove of, what will you do?"

Without warning, Zapdos spun on a dime and slammed a coal-black talon into Dave's ribs, sending the Poochyena's body flying like a football, straight into the side of a tree trunk with a heavy thud.

"Will you stop me? Can you?" the thunderbird asked, his voice echoing threateningly.

 

[Butterfree]

One moment he was there, watching Zapdos continue to espouse his bullshit, and the next, something slammed into his side with an audible crack, his ribs exploded into tearing agony, and he was in mid-air. The next moment after that, his skull smashed into a tree trunk and his vision blacked out.

Lights swam somewhere in the darkness an indeterminate amount of time later, his ears ringing. His body was an aching heap. He blindly pushed against the ground with a paw only for a blinding pain to stab through his ribs.

"Motherfucker," he groaned.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"Dave!"

Steven watched in shock as Dave slammed into a tree and crumpled into a heap of dark fur. And then suddenly, unbidden, the molten heat in his veins flared to life.

He moved, putting himself between Zapdos and the others, arms poised and claws bared. Psychic energy gathering in his palms, Radiant warmth heating his claws. He fixed the Cyclone with a sharp glare.

"You're free to choose what you will, but if you choose to senselessly hurt and destroy, then I will choose to oppose you."

 

[Tetra]

What the- Was Dave okay? Koa snarled in fury and whirled on Zapdos. Fear and anger surged through him and electricity crackled around his paws. He instinctively shifted to a battle-ready stance as he saw Steven moving to block Dave.

His paw clenched and it took everything in his power not to lunge at Zapdos. "If you're going behave like a beast then we'll give you a fight," he snarled.