Day 39 of the Johto journey. Clear.
The past twenty days had been peaceful. Clear skies, bright sun, no trouble.
Reiji had spent all of it beside the lake with the crystal, watching over Zapdos's treatment. After more than twenty days, the change was finally starting to show.
The ugly gray in its feathers had begun to fade. Soft yellow down was growing in its place, which meant the treatment was working. Slowly, annoyingly slowly, but working. Reiji had been at it for over twenty days just to reach this point, and he still had no idea how long the full recovery would take.
Today, though, he recalled Zapdos early.
Something felt off.
He had just finished breakfast and was lying in his folding chair, soaking up the sun, when he noticed the sky. It was full of clouds, but not the usual pale clouds of a normal overcast day. These were dark, heavy, and moving in fast.
Reiji lay back and watched the black storm front crawl toward the lake, thunder rumbling inside it.
Something was coming.
Thunder didn't always mean a thunder god. Sometimes it meant a foul-tempered dumb bird he absolutely could not afford to mess with.
"Rai," Krystal called from nearby, looking at the same clouds. "It might thunderstorm soon. You should come to my cabin and wait it out."
She knew who was coming.
Zapdos was the greatest secret she guarded.
She had expected Reiji to stay for a few days and leave, but somehow he had remained here for more than twenty days. If he saw that Zapdos, things could get complicated fast. Trainers loved rare Pokémon. That was just how they were.
"Sure."
Reiji saw the worry on her face and didn't argue. He called back all the Pokémon that were training, recalled them into their Poké Balls, packed up his tent, and followed Krystal into the cabin.
Thunder rolled overhead.
Then the rain came down in sheets.
They had barely gotten inside before wind and rain slammed into the cabin. Water battered the windows so hard Reiji seriously wondered whether the fragile glass could survive the storm.
Boom.
A golden bolt dropped straight into the middle of the lake.
Both of them flinched. The strike had come without warning.
Reiji narrowed his eyes and moved back to the window. Through the rain, he saw something break through the black clouds. First came a sharp beak. Then a crest of long golden feathers. A moment later, the full golden body emerged from the storm.
"Rai, can you please keep this a secret? I don't want—"
Reiji cut Krystal off before she could finish. He raised a finger to his lips.
"Quiet."
They watched as the wild Zapdos descended, slowly lowering itself into the lake. Even as it settled into the water, it kept looking around, as if searching for something.
Then the rockets came.
A whole group of black-clad figures appeared at the forest's edge. They raised launchers and fired into the lake.
Shells slammed into Zapdos and burst open, releasing thick white fog. Before the fog from the first wave could clear, another volley flew in and exploded across the water.
Reiji couldn't see the center of the lake anymore. Then frost began spreading out through the fog.
The ice raced across the lake, all the way to the shore, and the chill reached the cabin a moment later. The temperature plunged so sharply that both Reiji and Krystal rubbed their arms without thinking.
"What the hell…"
Reiji raised his binoculars.
Through the fog, he saw several Team Rocket members directing the rest onto the frozen lake. They moved toward the center, where the white mist was thickest.
A series of heavy knocks followed.
Then the group began pulling something out of the ice with their Pokémon.
It was a frozen block.
Zapdos was sealed inside it.
The wild Zapdos had been captured before it could put up any real resistance.
"How can they do that?" Krystal's face went white. "Zapdos is always weakest when it comes back here. I have to save it."
She ran for the door.
Before she could make it outside, Reiji grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"What are you doing? That's Team Rocket. You go out there, you die."
"I don't care! I can't let them take Zapdos!" Krystal struggled hard, and when she couldn't break free, she tried to bite his hand. "Let go of me! Let go! Stay out of it!"
"Unbelievable." Reiji let out a tired breath.
She had completely lost her head.
He chopped the side of his hand against the back of her neck. Krystal went limp, and he dropped her onto the bed.
Footsteps rushed toward the cabin.
"There's a cabin over there. The door just opened. Check it. If anyone's inside, kill them. Nobody can witness the capture."
Great.
Krystal had opened the door for one second, and Team Rocket had noticed them.
Reiji had no good option now. If he fought here and Team Rocket realized he was involved, the next people they sent would be Elite Four-tier. Hiding was the only sane choice.
"Lokoko," he said quietly. "I'm counting on you."
Fighting was the last resort. Lokoko's illusion was the best way through this.
Just in case, Reiji made another move. He had Gengar take some of Krystal's clothes and slip out through the window, creating the trail of someone who had already fled.
Bang.
A Team Rocket grunt kicked the cabin door open.
Inside, the room looked empty. The window kept banging in the storm, blown open and shut by the wind.
"No one here. Did they go out the window?"
The grunt stepped inside, scanning the messy bed and small room. Under Lokoko's illusion, he never saw Reiji standing motionless in the corner, or Krystal lying unconscious on the bed.
"Houndoom, check the scent," another Rocket ordered as he came in with a Houndoom.
Houndoom walked to the bed and sniffed, then circled the room. It finally stopped at the window and barked.
The moment it finished, it leapt outside and charged into the forest.
It had picked up Gengar's false trail.
The two Team Rocket members jumped out after it.
They chased the scent for several kilometers before Houndoom lost it. Gengar had gone invisible and flown into the air, and the clothes it carried had been blown away by the wind. There was nothing left to track.
The Rockets reported the situation, then received orders to erase the remaining traces and retreat.
A helicopter carried the frozen Zapdos away. The cleanup team withdrew soon after, and the lakeside fell quiet again.
Reiji sent Gengar after them.
He wanted to know which Team Rocket base this group had come from.
With Zapdos gone, the sky cleared little by little. The black clouds, lightning, and thunder vanished as if they had never been there.
A Legendary was a Legendary after all. Changing the weather came with the package.
Shame it had been caught by a few shells like an idiot.
The downpour weakened into a drizzle, then stopped altogether. Once the sky was clear, Reiji stepped out of the cabin.
Krystal woke soon after.
"Zapdos… Zapdos!"
She stumbled outside, shouting its name. The only thing left in the lake was the huge hole where the frozen block had been cut free.
Plenty of Electric-type Pokémon had been frozen in the lake too. As the temperature rose, the ice would eventually thaw and they would recover.
No need to wait that long, though.
Reiji threw out Magmar's Poké Ball.
"Magmar, use Flamethrower on the ice."
"Magmar." Magmar obeyed at once, breathing flames across the frozen surface. The ice began melting quickly.
"Why?" Krystal stared at the lake, then at him. "Why did you stop me? Zapdos is gone. They took Zapdos. Why didn't you let me save it?"
She had woken up to the worst possible sight, and for a moment she simply collapsed to the ground.
Then she saw Reiji melting the ice and saving the other Electric-type Pokémon, but not chasing after Zapdos. Somehow, that gave her enough strength to stand. She marched toward him and raised a hand to hit him.
"Are you done?" Reiji heard her coming and turned just in time to catch her wrist.
How did this woman still not understand the situation?
If she had rushed Team Rocket, the best possible outcome was getting captured alongside Zapdos. The worst was being killed on the spot.
Had it never occurred to her to survive first and call Officer Jenny?
"You're awful!" Krystal cried. "You're with them, aren't you? You bastard! Why didn't you save Zapdos? Aren't you supposed to be a strong Trainer?"
Right now, her head was full of Zapdos. She wasn't thinking. She only knew that Reiji had stopped her from rushing out, and he hadn't saved Zapdos either. So all her anger landed on him.
Reiji clicked his tongue. "You think I don't want Zapdos back? Magneton still hasn't evolved."
Krystal didn't hear the mutter.
He needed Zapdos too. Nobody had expected the wild one to get snatched like this. Even Magneton was still frozen somewhere in the lake.
But first, he had to calm this woman down. If she kept screaming, she was going to drive him insane.
A sharp slap cracked through the air.
Krystal fell to the ground, stunned. She stared up at Reiji as if seeing him for the first time.
How could someone so gentle suddenly hit her like that?
"Calm now?" Reiji hid his hand behind his back and turned away, not looking at her tear-filled eyes. "If you are, call Officer Jenny. Tell her Team Rocket took Zapdos and ask her to bring powerful Trainers."
"I know!" Krystal's cheek was red and swelling, but the slap had knocked her back to her senses. She took out her phone and began dialing.
As she did, she saw Reiji release Pidgeot and fly toward the center of the lake. Two red beams shot from his Poké Balls. One recalled Magmar, still melting the ice. The other took back an Electric-type Pokémon bobbing in the water, though she couldn't see clearly what it was.
Then Reiji recalled the Poké Balls, rose into the sky, and disappeared into the distance.
Only then did Krystal remember she was still holding the phone.
When the call connected, she sniffled and said, "Officer Jenny, this is Krystal, the warden at the lake with the crystal. Zapdos came here to rest today, and Team Rocket suddenly appeared and captured it. Please come quickly."
Her voice shook.
"And bring strong Trainers. Those people were powerful. Zapdos couldn't even fight back before they took it."
"Are you safe right now?" Officer Jenny asked. "Protect yourself. I'll get there as soon as I can."
Far away at the Blackthorn City police station, Officer Jenny ended the call, grabbed her coat, mounted her motorcycle, and sped toward Blackthorn Gym.
At the same time, Reiji had already landed in the forest.
If he kept flying in the open, Team Rocket might spot him. From here, he would continue on foot.
If his guess was right, Team Rocket had retreated toward Lake of Rage. That meant this group had come from the Lake of Rage base.
He sighed.
He had done everything he could to avoid Team Rocket. He had only wanted to wait for the wild Zapdos to appear, evolve Magneton, finish his own Zapdos's treatment, and leave.
So why did this kind of mess always land on him?
Every single time.
And no, he was not going to storm a Team Rocket base by himself to rescue Zapdos.
Absolutely not.
That was a Team Rocket research base. Its security had captured Zapdos in one clean operation. If he went in alone, he would just be delivering himself to their doorstep.
He had come this way for one reason: to get away from Krystal and watch what happened next.
Once the League sent its main force, he could trail behind them and see whether there was anything worth picking up.
This was a research base tied to evolution, genetics, and Pokémon potential. If he remembered right, the red Gyarados came from that base. If there was anything useful inside and he didn't even take a look, he would regret it later.
To be clear, he was not being reckless.
He had prepared a disguise.
Gengar would cover him from the shadows, and Lokoko would cover him in the open. With Lokoko's Ninetales form as the face of the disguise, Team Rocket would have no reason to connect him to Reiji or Spider. Neither of those identities had a Ninetales, much less an Elite Four-tier one.
As long as he was careful, he could follow the League from behind and pick through whatever opportunities appeared. If he ran into League people, he could reveal his identity, and Krystal could act as a witness.
Would Krystal hold a grudge over the slap?
Reiji didn't care.
A reckless idiot who rushed into danger with no plan, no strength, and a head full of savior nonsense was exactly the kind of person he hated dealing with.
Let her be mad.
If things got annoying, he could call Pryce and prove his innocence that way.
"Gengar."
Gengar had been tailing Team Rocket, but halfway back it sensed Lokoko and dropped into the forest near Reiji, slipping back into his shadow.
"It found the Team Rocket base," Lokoko translated. "It's under a lake up ahead."
"Lake of Rage, then," Reiji murmured.
He had expected that part. What he wanted to know was what kind of genetic experiment they needed Zapdos for.
"What else?"
"It says there are a lot of strange Pokémon locked underground. The Zapdos they just captured is there. There's also a blue duck-like Pokémon with a lily pad on its back floating in a tank, a red Gyarados, an Electivire being force-fed electricity, and many Water-type Pokémon—Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, Squirtle, Wartortle, Psyduck, Magikarp…"
Lokoko continued, listening to Gengar.
"There are also many Electric types. Jolteon, Pikachu, Elekid, Mareep… and an electric dog that looks a lot like that water dog. They're all unconscious. Gengar says the place feels horrible."
"Wait. Water dog?" Reiji caught the important part immediately.
What was Gengar talking about?
Did it mean that clingy dog?
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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