Batgirl's internal comms crackled with cheerful static, a background hum to Harley's latest monologue about the culinary potential of moss. She focused past it, her eyes sweeping the winding forest path. The serene sounds of rustling leaves and distant bird calls were a far cry from Gotham's usual sirens, but she filtered them with a detective's ear, listening for anything that didn't belong.
Frogadier was a silent blue streak ahead of her, leaping from root to rock with liquid grace. The Pokémon's focused reconnaissance was a welcome anchor in the chaos. Watching it move, Batgirl felt a familiar pang of exasperated affection for the whirlwind of noise trailing behind her.
"Ooh! Babs! Lookit, lookit!"
Harley Quinn nearly face-planted over a gnarled root, her mismatched boots skidding on the damp earth. She recovered with a gymnast's spin and pointed excitedly at a cluster of plain brown mushrooms growing on a fallen log.
"These gotta be the super-duper glowy ones Red needs for her important research! The ones that make ya see colors that ain't even invented yet!"
Houndour bounded around her legs, sniffing the fungi with enthusiastic pants before losing interest and trotting off to investigate a suspicious-looking leaf.
Batgirl sighed, the sound hidden behind her cowl. Her tactical map overlay highlighted their assigned grid coordinates, not mushroom identification.
"Harley, my cowl has thermal imaging, comms encryption, and a link to three different satellite networks."
"So… is that a yes on the mushroom-identifying setting?" Harley asked, her voice brimming with hopeful, oblivious sincerity.
Poison Ivy, a picture of botanical elegance even in the wilderness, sighed with exaggerated patience as Harley tried to get her to "talk" to a particularly stubborn fern.
"Not all plants appreciate unsolicited conversations, Harley. Especially not when delivered with that much glitter."
Budew, nestled securely in Ivy's arms, emitted a soft, knowing hum. The little plant Pokémon could feel the current of Ivy's true, hidden amusement running just beneath the surface of her dry sarcasm, like warm sap under bark.
Batgirl watched their familiar dynamic from a few paces away. The way Harley beamed at Ivy's scolding, and the way Ivy's stern expression never quite reached her eyes, told Barbara everything she needed to know about the deep affection running between them.
"Okay, you two," Batgirl said, tapping her gauntlet. "We should focus. The Zapdos power signature is strongest at higher altitudes. We need to climb."
"Highest, shiniest berry bush, got it!" Harley declared, immediately interpreting the directive as a personal challenge.
Before Batgirl could clarify, Harley took off in a new, seemingly random direction, pulling a resigned Ivy along with a squeal of excitement.
"Wait, that's not what I—"
But they were already gone, swallowed by the greenery. Batgirl watched the spot where they vanished.
Frogadier, standing beside her, gave a small, resigned croak. Barbara felt a swell of fond exasperation. She loved them, but they were going to be the reason her mission timer kept resetting.
The rhythmic snap-snap-snap of twigs under Harley Quinn's boots suddenly cut off. The off-key humming in Batgirl's ear went silent a second later, replaced by something else entirely. It was a faint, low hum, mechanical and wrong, layered under the forest's usual whisper.
It sliced right through the chaotic noise Harley was making and the focused calculations running through Barbara's mind. A flicker of annoyance at the interruption sparked, then died instantly, replaced by a familiar, cool alertness. Something was here that didn't belong.
Up ahead, Harley had frozen mid-step. Her usual boisterous energy had vanished, replaced by a rare, watchful stillness. Beside her, Ivy raised a single green hand, palm flat. Budew, cradled in her other arm, went perfectly still.
Batgirl reached them in two swift, silent steps. Frogadier materialized at her side, its blue form a silent shadow. Together, they peered through a thick curtain of broad leaves and hanging vines.
The small clearing beyond was a scene of stark violation. Three HYDRA agents in their green and yellow uniforms moved with clinical efficiency, their movements a brutal contrast to the sun-dappled forest floor.
They weren't just capturing Pokémon. They were herding them. Specialized net launchers fired shimmering energy fields that wrapped around a struggling Bellsprout. Another agent shoved a frightened Vulpix into a glowing blue energy cage that hummed with containment power. A small Teddiursa whimpered, pressed against the bars of its own cage.
Batgirl's eyes flicked behind her cowl, her tactical vision automatically scanning and tagging. Three hostiles. Two energy cage units, portable but sturdy. Net launchers, non-lethal but effective. Her mind began to race through scenarios.
A direct assault was noisy and risked the Pokémon. A stealth takedown was possible, but one missed step could trigger an alarm. Disabling the cages first was the priority, but that required getting past the agents. A dozen plans formed and dissolved, each with a critical variable that could compromise the primary mission: finding Zapdos.
Harley, meanwhile, let out a small, sharp intake of breath. Her grip on her mallet tightened until her knuckles turned white under her gloves. All her chaotic joy was gone, replaced by a hard, cold focus on the caged creatures.
Ivy's green eyes narrowed to slits. A slow, simmering anger seemed to radiate from her, a heat that had nothing to do with fire. She held Budew closer, a silent, primal protectiveness taking hold. Watching the agents manhandle the wild Pokémon wasn't just an offense to her—it was a desecration.
Batgirl's voice was low, a controlled whisper meant for her teammates alone. "We can't. Engaging risks our main objective and could bring the entire HYDRA cell down on us. Our priority is locating Zapdos, not starting a fight we can't finish quietly."
Her logic was sound. It was strategic. It was exactly what Batman would have advised. But as she spoke, she watched an agent carelessly kick the side of a cage, making the Teddiursa inside yelp in fear.
Harley slowly turned her head. She looked at Ivy, then at Batgirl. Her voice, when it came, was unnervingly quiet, stripped of all its usual playful affect.
"We're just gonna leave 'em?"
Ivy's gaze drifted from the captured creatures to the determined, conflicted faces of her companions. She let out a small sigh, a sound of resignation to an inevitable truth.
"You have a point, Batgirl. But we can't. Plants… like Pokémon… deserve to grow free. Not in cages."
Batgirl looked at them both—Harley's uncharacteristic gravity, Ivy's unwavering conviction—then back at the clearing. The Teddiursa's whimper cut through the mechanical hum, sharper than any alarm.
She let out a frustrated huff, the sound of perfect strategy succumbing to a better, messier cause.
"Fine. We save them. But we do it quick and quiet. No grandstanding, no explosions. Understood?"
Frogadier, sensing the shift in its Trainer, adjusted its stance, the bubbles around its neck shimmering with readiness. The decision was made. The mission had just changed.
***
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