Chapter 11
The chicks are a little over a year old now, actually 12.5 months.
All of them are almost at full adult size. The only difference is that they still have a little down on top of
their regular feathers and they look a little scraggly. They have all the flight feathers. (The Lugia's wing
looks perfect for flight.)
It's time for them to learn how to fly, and Jake, Christina, and I have been waiting for almost a full year
for this. In one of the aviaries, where they've been situated since they were 8 months old, we could see
them flapping their wings and trying to jump off a high ledge or branch, but always have a clumsy
landing or just a plain CRASH.
The main workers at the breeding center have been waiting for this time, too, and they are telling us to
wait for a nice, windy day.
Three days later, we were in luck. There were major gusts of wind in the area, and the time for us to
see if they can truely fly.
We put the chicks into their pokeballs, and then took a walk with two of the workers out to a very hilly,
gra$sy, open area.
"Okay," said the woman worker. "We'll send all the chicks out at the same time so they can test their
wings, and maybe give each other feedback. Who knows, maybe Pokemon really do that."
"Yup, and we'll encourage them," added the man worker.
I turned to Christina and Jake.
"Ready?"
"All set!" said Jake.
"I'm ready!" said Christina.
"LET'S DO IT!" the three of us all said simotaniously, as we released the chicks from their pokeballs out
into the open.
"Zap? Zapdos!" Zapdos chirped, checking out the area.
"Arrrrrrti...articuno un," said Articuno, bracing itself against the wind while testing it.
"Lugi a. Gi," sqwaked Lugia, flapping its wings in anxiety to become airborne.
"Molt. Tres molts!" shouted Moltres, as it found out that this was the actual opportunity to try to fly.
"Oh, ho oh hohoho!" said Ho-Oh, also testing the wind.
"Come on. Try to fly," encouraged Christina.
"Yeah. Flap your wings like this: Ar! Ar! Ar!" said Jake, imitating a bird while flapping his arms. The
chicks looked at him strangely.
"Umm...follow their advice," I said.
"Ho?" asked Ho-Oh.
"Yeah," I said.
"Tre," commented Moltres.
"Ti!"
"Lu"
"Zap!"
The chicks then strutted out a little into the open, and then stood facing the wind. We could hear them
chirping to each other, probably giving the others encouragement, as the woman said.
After a while of flapping their wings and jumping into the air, we finally saw some improvement. The
Zapdos jumped up into the air while flapping its wings and stayed up for about two seconds, but it then
crash-landed. There were similar things with the others.
Then, THE MOMENT. Articuno then seemed to realize that they didn't get aloft from jumping. They
needed another method. Articuno then explained a new way to the others, and we couldn't understand
a single thing they were saying. Moltres seemed to agree, so did Zapdos. Ho-Oh then seemed to go
with the plan after a bit of hesitation. Lugia wasn't too sure, though. It was telling them of another way,
but then got argued at by the others. It then went with Articuno's plan.
They all turned facing the wind again. After testing the wind for a bit, they then ran as fast as they could
while flapping their wings in vain. It seemed as if they were running in a straight line endlessly and
would never stop. We all worried about if they ever did get into the air.
The chicks sprinted across the gra$sy land, avoiding fairly big hills, but prefering to run down hills to see
if they got lift. After they went too far out, they then turned and ran towards us.
The running, flapping chicks were headed straight at us. We moved over a bit so they could get through
if they didn't make it into the air then.
The chicks were straining hard. You could hear the heavy beating of wings from all five of them.
Moltres, the oldest, was sprinting across the vast plain, flapping its wings as hard as it could, when it
gave a major push against the ground with its legs. It pushed against the ground, jumped a little against
the wind, flapped its wings, and was gliding low over the gra$s. It was finally airborne. Articuno took off
close behind, followed by Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Zapdos.
The chicks then flapped and gained height as they soared over the hilly area. We all cheered at their
accomplishmest.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOO! WAY TO GO!" shouted the three of us. The two workers were cheering as well.
Zapdos dove toward us in an attempted aerial stunt, and then flew up when it almost hit us. Lugia
glided low over the gra$s, while Articuno, Moltres, and Ho-Oh were flapping around the area.
They then all got into a group and climbed really high until they were small specks in the sky. (Lugia
looked like it was a centimeter long when it really is 17 feet tall.)
After flying, and us watching them fly for a while, they then landed and ruffeled their feathers. We
congratulated them on a job well done, called them back, and went back to the breeding center.
For the next several weeks, we took them out for daily flights. They became excellent fliers.