The air in the Power Plant's core area seemed to have solidified into amber. The biting cold that had spread with Articuno's arrival had yet to fully dissipate when an even more unnerving heat and oppressive weight bore down from the highest point of the dome. It was the deathly silence before a storm, when all things fell mute. In the air, fine dust no longer drifted but clung to metal surfaces under an invisible force, making faint crackling sounds. Every Team Rocket member felt their hair and the fibers of their combat uniforms rising slightly against their will, while waves of tingling pain prickled their skin.
They needed no instruments to sense the utterly pure, destructive power entrenched overhead.
Deep in the shadows of the dome, a pair of golden eyes snapped open. They were less like the eyes of a living creature than two stars compressed to their utmost limits, liquid thunder and pure fury flowing within them. It sensed these insects that had intruded upon its nest, sensed the loathsome scent of the land upon them.
Zapdos, tyrant of the skies, incarnation of lightning.
Its sharp beak, seemingly cast from gold, opened without the slightest warning.
"Skree-!!!!"
A piercing screech tore through the solidified air.
This was no simple cry, but a sonic command carrying a high-frequency electromagnetic pulse. Along the path of the spreading sound, the air was violently ionized, forming rings of pale blue ripples visible to the naked eye. Sturdy blast-resistant glass developed web-like cracks at the sound, then burst into a shower of glittering fragments the next second. On the instrument panels remaining on the walls, needles spun madly to their limits before exploding in a succession of bangs, spitting black smoke and sparks.
The entire Power Plant, this heart that supplied energy