Zapdos hovers above the wreckage, lightning crackling along its jagged wings. The air smells like ozone and burnt metal. Below, the surviving Hydra agents scramble through the rubble, their tactical gear scorched and sparking.
Zapdos's white-hot gaze locks onto the remains of Zola's control unit. The holographic face flickers on a cracked screen, still projecting that infuriating calm.
"Fascinating," Zola's synthesized voice crackles from the wreckage. "The specimen exhibits predictable aggression patterns. A simple matter of—"
Zapdos screams.
The sound is not a bird call. It is a thunderclap compressed into a weapon, a frequency that rattles teeth and cracks concrete. Every Hydra agent in the bunker claps their hands over their ears. The sound alone drops three of them to their knees.
Then the lightning comes.
A bolt the width of a car strikes Zola's remains, reducing the control unit to slag. The holographic face distorts, stretches, and winks out with a pathetic electronic squeal. Secondary arcs leap to nearby equipment, cooking circuit boards and melting conduit lines. The smell of burning silicon fills the air.
Crossbones rolls behind a support column, his tactical armor smoking. He peeks out, raising his stun rifle.
Zapdos is already there.
A wing buffets him with the force of a freight train, sending him tumbling across the chamber floor. His rifle skitters away into the dark. Crossbones tries to stand, and a precise bolt of electricity pins him to the ground. Not enough to kill. Enough to make every muscle in his body lock up and scream.
Viper scrambles through the debris, her emerald suit shredded, her toxin ring cracked. She raises her micro-needle gloves, but Zapdos doesn't even look at her. A casual sweep of its tail releases a Discharge that arcs through the metal floor. Viper goes rigid, her hair standing straight up, and collapses in a heap beside Crossbones.
The lightning stops.
Zapdos hovers in silence, its chest heaving, sparks still dancing across its feathers. The bunker groans around them. Dust falls from the ceiling like snow.
Behind a toppled support beam, Valeria lowers her gauntlet.
"Well," she says. "That was efficient."
Batgirl is already on her feet, scanning the chamber with her cowl. "Zola's core is slagged. Crossbones and Viper are down. Structural integrity is compromised. We should move."
May peeks out from behind a crate, Joltik clinging to her shoulder. "Is it over?"
A chunk of ceiling crashes down ten feet from them.
"Almost," Batgirl says.
From the other side of the rubble, Harley's voice rings out. "Hey, Sparky! Over here, ya big beautiful bird!"
Ivy hisses from somewhere in the dark. "Harley, do not antagonize the legendary lightning Pokémon."
"I'm not antagonizing! I'm being friendly!"
Zapdos turns its head toward the sound. Its eyes narrow.
Then it looks past Harley, past Ivy, past the rubble and the wreckage and the groaning Hydra agents. It looks at the group of young trainers standing in the ruins of the containment chamber. Valeria with her dead gauntlet and her evolved Metang floating beside her. Batgirl with Frogadier on her shoulder. May with Joltik. Franklin with Ralts. Kamala with Eevee. Doreen with Emolga. Harley with Houndour. Ivy with Roselia.
Eight trainers. Eight Pokémon. All of them battered, singed, and exhausted.
All of them still standing.
Zapdos tilts its head. The rage drains from its posture like water from a cracked vessel. What replaces it is something harder to read. Recognition, maybe. Or respect.
The legendary bird descends, its talons touching the cracked floor with surprising gentleness. It folds its wings. The lightning along its feathers dims to a faint, warm glow.
Franklin steps forward, Ralts floating beside him. "Hey. You okay?"
Zapdos regards him for a long moment. Then it releases a low, resonant hum. Not a threat. Not a challenge.
A thank you.
Ralts translates through their psychic link, and Franklin's eyes widen. "He says... that we earned his respect."
Valeria blinks. "I mean, I did land a Flash Cannon on his wing joint."
"You also tried to scan him like a lab specimen," Batgirl points out.
"The two aren't mutually exclusive."
May giggles. Joltik chirps, and Zapdos's gaze shifts to the tiny spider Pokémon. Something passes between them. Joltik's antennae twitch. Zapdos's feathers settle.
Harley pulls a bag of popcorn from somewhere inside her jacket. Nobody questions where it came from. She shoves a handful into her mouth.
"So," she says, chewing loudly. "We just watched a legendary Pokémon barbecue Hydra's A-team. Anyone else feel like this calls for snacks?"
Ivy stares at her. "Where did you even get popcorn?"
"I'm a prepared girl, Red."
Kamala accepts a handful, passing some to Eevee. "I mean, she's not wrong. This is kind of a celebratory moment."
Doreen is already eating. "Best mission ever. We got to see Zapdos go full rage mode on actual Nazis. With snacks."
"They're not technically Nazis," Valeria says.
"They work for a guy called Red Skull," Doreen says. "Close enough."
Zapdos watches this exchange with what might be confusion. Or amusement. It's hard to tell with a legendary bird made of lightning.
Batgirl approaches the bird slowly, one hand raised. "We're not here to capture you. We never were."
Zapdos holds her gaze. Then it looks up, through the hole in the ceiling, toward the open sky. The wind carries the scent of pine and rain.
It spreads its wings.
The message is clear.
"Go," Batgirl says, stepping back. "You're free."
Zapdos launches upward. The shockwave of its departure rattles every loose piece of debris in the bunker. It rises through the shattered ceiling, through the mountain air, into the clouds gathering above Aurawood.
For a moment, the sky glows gold.
Then it's gone.
Franklin shields his eyes, grinning. "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen."
Valeria is already checking her gauntlet. "We need to move. This structure is coming down in approximately four minutes."
Harley stuffs the last of the popcorn into her mouth and grabs Ivy's arm. "You heard the nerd. Run now, philosophize later."
The group moves as one, trainers and Pokémon together, picking their way through the collapsing bunker. They emerge into the late afternoon light just as the mountain groans behind them and the HYDRA facility folds in on itself with a sound like the world clearing its throat.
They stand on the ridge, breathing hard, covered in dust and soot and the lingering smell of ozone.
May sits on a rock and releases Joltik, who immediately crawls onto her head and chirps happily.
Kamala flops onto the grass. "We did it."
"We did it," Batgirl confirms.
Harley throws her arms around Ivy. "We're superheroes for trees now, Red!"
Ivy sighs. But she's smiling.
Valeria looks at the sky where Zapdos disappeared. Metang floats beside her, its red eyes calm.
"Together," she says quietly.
Metang hums in agreement.
Franklin sits down next to Ralts and grins at the group. "So. Same time next week?"
Doreen throws an acorn at him.
It's the best mission any of them have ever had.
***
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