Chapter 263: Ho-Oh Wants to See Me?
Unlike the aloof and solitary Raikou, Entei was very thoughtful. He gave Will and the others a ride, fulfilling Lorelei's dream of riding a Legendary Beast.
"Entei, what do you three usually do?"
Lorelei rubbed the big head beneath her.
"We each have our own tasks. Suicune generally purifies water sources polluted by human factories. Raikou punishes people and Pokémon who do evil. I mostly go to places where natural disasters have occurred to see if any living beings need help."
Entei could speak a language humans could understand. His voice was deep and resonant, like a man in his thirties. It sounded similar to the illusionary Entei from the third movie, Spell of the Unown: Entei.
"Wow~ You guys are amazing."
Lorelei's voice was full of genuine admiration. No wonder the Legendary Beasts were so famous. Their actions truly deserved the popularity, much more respectable than some high-tier Legendaries.
"Indeed. There aren't many 'gods' like you. Those three birds in the Sevii Islands are the complete opposite," Will thought.
Entei remained silent. He didn't want to gossip about other gods.
There were things an Aura Guardian could say, but Entei couldn't. Even if he thought the same thing, he couldn't voice it.
"Is that Mount Tensei up ahead?"
Lorelei pointed to a high mountain in the distance.
From afar, the upper-middle part of the mountain had an iron-gray hue. It seemed to be made of some special material.
"Alright, I'll send you off here. Ahead lies Suicune's trial."
Entei lifted his chin. At the foot of Mount Tensei, there was a vast expanse of white mist.
"Ooh~ Suicune~"
Hearing this, Lorelei scrambled off Entei's back and charged toward the mist without looking back. Lucario's eyes widened, and he hurriedly chased after her.
Only Will and Entei remained.
"You have something to say to me?"
Will hopped off Entei's back, giving him a curious look. He could sense Entei's Aura; it felt hesitant, like he wanted to speak but stopped. Clearly, he had something to say.
"Mm. Just a question."
"What is it? Something even you don't know, that I can answer?"
"I don't know if you can answer it either."
Entei looked down at the tiny penguin, a puzzled expression on his face. "Actually, this Rainbow Hero trial is just a cover. Ho-Oh's real goal is to meet you."
Will tilted his head.
Ho-Oh wants to meet me? Do I know it?
No wonder Raikou and Entei's trials were so casual. So Ho-Oh's real goal wasn't to choose Lorelei as the Rainbow Hero, but to see me.
I knew it. Lorelei didn't become the Rainbow Hero in the original story, so how could she become one now?
"Looks like you can't answer my question."
"Mm. I'm wondering too." Will nodded.
"Then keep going. Ho-Oh will explain everything to you."
Entei turned around and disappeared from the small grassland in a few leaps.
"...I don't think I did anything related to Ho-Oh in this life."
Will pondered for a couple of seconds, but couldn't figure it out. So he simply gave up thinking and chased after Lorelei and Lucario.
Passing by a rock, he stopped to ask the Tree of Beginning if it knew Ho-Oh's purpose. Unfortunately, the Tree didn't know either.
But Mew seemed to know something, though it said it wouldn't tell Will. However, judging by Mew's playful tone, Will could at least determine that Ho-Oh meant no harm.
Thinking about it... letting his trainer become the Rainbow Hero and giving them smooth passage—could that be considered Ho-Oh showing goodwill to Will?
When Will caught up with Lorelei and the others, Lorelei had already wrapped her arms around Suicune's neck. Suicune was turning its head toward Will, seemingly pleading for help.
"Suicune~ Mwah~ Come with me, I'll treat you well."
Lorelei plucked a small flower from the ground and placed it on Suicune's head. The gesture looked remarkably like a marriage proposal.
Suicune lay on the ground, not responding. Even with its infinite patience and gentle nature, it couldn't handle a clingy child like Lorelei.
However, Suicune didn't dislike Lorelei. It could feel that her affection was pure and sincere. No Pokémon dislikes that kind of emotion. Even a god.
But Suicune couldn't go with her. It wasn't like other Suicunes. Other Suicunes could be caught, even by a roadside trainer with a single ball, and it wouldn't matter. But this Suicune couldn't. If it were caught, the world's water sources would rapidly deteriorate.
"Hehe, Suicune's short fur feels cool. It feels just like Piplup's~" Lorelei rubbed Suicune's neck, carefully feeling every inch of its skin. "But Piplup's fur is softer. Is it because Piplup is still a baby?"
"Hey~ Lorelei, get down. Stop messing around."
Will stood in front of Suicune, speaking to Lorelei on its back.
"No." Lorelei shook her head, pressing her cheek against Suicune. "It's so rare to meet Suicune. I might never see it again. I have to snuggle it properly."
"We will meet again."
Suicune finally spoke. Unlike Entei's deep, manly voice, Suicune's voice was that of a gentle woman.
"Really? Will you come find me?"
"I will." Suicune nodded and continued, "Once you become the Rainbow Hero, when you are nearby, I will come to see if you need help."
"?! Really?! Don't worry, I'll definitely become the Rainbow Hero! You have to come find me often, okay~"
Lorelei's face lit up with joy. She slid off Suicune's back, picked Will up, and placed him on Suicune's head.
For Lorelei, such a rare experience naturally had to be shared with her best partner, Piplup!
"...I will take you up the mountain. Place the Rainbow Wing on the Rainbow Rock. When the Rainbow Flower blooms there, you will see Ho-Oh."
Suicune stood up and led them up Mount Tensei. It didn't mention a word about a trial.
Half an hour later.
"The Rainbow Rock is up there. You go on ahead. I won't go." Suicune stopped and looked ahead.
"Aw~ Suicune, wait for us to come back, okay? Travel with us?" Lorelei leaned close to Suicune and poked its front leg.
"...I have many things to do." Suicune sweatdropped.
"Alright, Lorelei, let's go. The longer we delay, the more likely an accident will happen." Will tugged on Lorelei's pant leg.
In the movie, Ash wasted time talking to Cross, which led to the Rainbow Wing being snatched in a sudden attack and losing its light.
"Oh." Lorelei nodded and followed Will.
The rest of the journey was uneventful; they hardly even saw any wild Pokémon.
The peak of Mount Tensei was a small flat area. Oddly, there was a protruding greenish-black rock on this flat ground.
"That's the Rainbow Rock? It doesn't look rainbow-colored."
"That's because you haven't put the Rainbow Wing on it yet."
"? Is that so?" Lorelei paused. Then, she took out the Rainbow Wing and walked toward the large rock.
"Rargh."
Lucario signaled Will to look at Lorelei's shadow.
Under their gaze, Marshadow popped out of Lorelei's shadow. It stood there quietly, watching Lorelei climb the rock with the Rainbow Wing.
"Ignore it. It just came out to watch."
Will shook his head and shifted his gaze to the sky.
It was nearing evening. The sky was starting to turn a dusky yellow. But it was still relatively bright and clear. Ho-Oh appearing in these conditions probably wouldn't cause too much of a commotion.
"Woof!"
Lucario's bark pulled Will's attention back.
Lorelei had placed the Rainbow Wing on the Rainbow Rock. Suddenly, a flower radiating rainbow light grew out of thin air from the greenish-black stone.
"The Rainbow Flower..." Will muttered.
This thing was no ordinary object. Its value as an ornamental item was immense; it would fetch a high price at auction. If news got out, Grass-type trainers like Ramos would flock to it. Bug, Poison, and Fairy-type trainers might be interested too.
Not to mention... you could take this thing to the Alola region to participate in the island challenge and summon a Totem Ribombee.
The light from the blooming flower illuminated the entire peak of Mount Tensei. Not only the Rainbow Rock below, but even the clouds above turned rainbow-colored.
A minute later.
A long, sacred cry came from the distant sky.
Then, a large red bird, trailing a rainbow, flew toward the peak of Mount Tensei.
"Ho-Oh?"
"Mm. You must have seen it before, right?"
"Only the Ho-Oh that Mew transformed into. They seemed to have a good relationship." Lucario nodded.
Ho-Oh circled above their heads twice, and specks of rainbow dust fell onto them.
The next moment, Will and Lucario whipped their heads around to look at each other.
"You too?"
"Mm!"
"Ho, that's some greeting gift." Will grinned.
Ordinary Pokémon might not feel it. But as Aura users, Will and Lucario couldn't miss the changes happening in their bodies.
Besides, Will had his status panel.
On his panel, the "Potential" column had changed from "White" to "Blue".
This was a huge improvement. It had skipped right over "Green."
"How much did yours improve?"
"Negligible." Lucario shook his head.
Will nodded thoughtfully. It seemed Ho-Oh's dust—Sacred Ash, perhaps?—had a greater effect on "mediocre" Pokémon. For a Pokémon like Lucario, whose potential was already high, the improvement was negligible.
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