Ho-Oh

"You're Dongshu, right?"

The photographer's noble, elegant voice suddenly rang through Dongshu's mind via telepathy.

"Yes..." Dongshu looked up at the enormous bird before him. With the Legendary Beasts gone, did that mean he'd be alone with Ho-Oh for the time being?

Ho-Oh, the most mysterious Legendary Pokémon in the Pokémon world. Its strength was unknown. Though it had appeared many times, it had never shown its power before humans.

Dongshu couldn't help checking Ho-Oh's strength through the Rare Candy section of the System Store.

Although levels didn't exist in the real world, exchanging for the Rare Candy item could represent a Pokémon's approximate strength in terms of levels.

[Rare Candy (Ho-Oh only): A magical candy used to raise a Pokémon's level. Exchange cost: 82,000 Shock Points.]

Eighty-two thousand...

That meant that, if its strength were represented by a level, Ho-Oh was probably around level 82!

In a Pokémon world where the maximum level was 100, Ho-Oh was definitely among the very strongest!

A look of surprise appeared on Dongshu's face.

Ho-Oh keenly noticed the expression on the human child's face.

Was he nervous? Ho-Oh wondered.

"There is no need to be nervous. I am Ho-Oh, a being who can bring happiness and good fortune to humans." Ho-Oh tried to make its tone as gentle as possible.

More than seven hundred years ago, Ho-Oh had formed a friendship with humans in Ecruteak City and stayed for a long time atop the tower they had built for it.

During that time, Ho-Oh had observed many humans up close.

As for how to care for a human child...

An image of a human mother holding her child appeared in Ho-Oh's mind.

The first step in nurturing the Rainbow Hero was to grow closer to this human child.

Ho-Oh descended from the rainbow-colored stone and landed in front of Dongshu. Then it lowered its head and said to him:

"Come, Dongshu. Climb onto my back. I'll take you to see some interesting things."

Dongshu: "?"

Was Ho-Oh telling him to climb on?

Dongshu's mouth fell open in surprise.

He didn't mind, but...

Ho-Oh was nearly four meters tall. To him, it was an enormous giant!

"Ho-Oh..." Dongshu couldn't help calling out.

This human child called my name... Ho-Oh narrowed its eyes slightly and said gently, "That's right. I am Ho-Oh."

"High!" Dongshu tried to get the point across. "I can't reach!"

Ho-Oh, who had been eagerly anticipating this: "..."

It had overlooked that.

A blue light flashed in Ho-Oh's eyes. The next moment, a gentle Confusion enveloped Dongshu's tiny body and carefully placed him on Ho-Oh's back.

"Wow!" Dongshu cried out, playing along. "That's amazing!"

Ho-Oh let out a melodious cry. A moment later, it spread its wings and soared from the peak of Heavenly Green Mountain into the sky.

It was the first time in his life Dongshu had ever been so high up. As he watched the ground grow farther and farther away below, his legs went weak with nerves, and he began to tremble.

So high... If he fell, he'd probably die on impact, wouldn't he?

Hmm? Does this human child seem afraid?

Ho-Oh keenly sensed the emotions of the one on its back. In a gentle voice, it spoke through telepathy:

"Dongshu, look ahead."

Dongshu instinctively turned his gaze away from the ground and looked ahead, as Ho-Oh had said.

—A huge, brilliant rainbow stretched across the entire azure sky. The sun in the distance shone warmly, and at some point, fluffy white clouds had appeared all around them, like a beautiful, fairytale-like painting.

"Wow!" Dongshu was instantly captivated by the sight.

"This world is beautiful, isn't it?" Ho-Oh said softly.

"Yeah!" Dongshu nodded, mesmerized.

Ho-Oh smiled. It let out a beautiful, melodious cry, then slowed down and took the human child on its back on a leisurely flight through the sky.

It wasn't until the sun began to set and fiery clouds swept across the sky that Ho-Oh finally brought Dongshu back to Heavenly Green Mountain.

Dongshu was thrilled by the day's experience.

But what excited him even more was how friendly and gentle Ho-Oh had been with him.

It was nothing like the photographer he remembered, Shiny Fearow.

When they landed, Dongshu sincerely said to Ho-Oh, "Thank you, Ho-Oh!"

Ho-Oh smiled.

Then it saw the human child in front of it produce, as if by magic, a Poffin that gave off an enticing aroma. It had no idea where he'd gotten it.

Ho-Oh paused, its gaze settling on the Poffin.

The next moment, it saw the human child hold the Poffin in both hands, stretch up onto his tiptoes, and offer it to Ho-Oh.

"Here!"

Ho-Oh was taken aback. "This is... for me?"

"Yeah!" Dongshu nodded, smiling. "Because you spent so much time playing with me today!"

At that moment, a feeling unlike anything Ho-Oh had ever known welled up inside it.

This human child...

Its expression grew even gentler, and it carefully ate the delicious Poffin.

"Ho-Oh, come with me!" Dongshu tugged at Ho-Oh. "It's dark. We should go home!"

"Home?" Ho-Oh paused again.

"Yeah! The home I share with Fire Emperor, Marshadow, Raikou, and Suicune!" Dongshu nodded.

"Oh?" Hearing that, Ho-Oh couldn't help feeling a little anticipation.

It followed the human child away from the mountaintop and down the mountain path. Before long, they came to a cave with a gate installed at its entrance.

A Berry grove had been planted in the earth beside the cave.

Seeing this, a flash of surprise crossed Ho-Oh's eyes.

"Raikou and I planted those together!" After spending most of the day with Ho-Oh, Dongshu no longer felt as unfamiliar or nervous around it as he had at first.

So when he saw Ho-Oh looking over there, he took the initiative to explain: "That way, we don't have to go down the mountain to look for food!"

As he spoke, a troubled look appeared on Dongshu's face.

"But sometimes the Berries grow in such abundance that Fire Emperor and I can't eat them all, and they go bad..."

"So, to keep them from going to waste, Fire Emperor and I started sharing them with everyone in the forest!"

"Is that so?" Ho-Oh's gaze grew even gentler. It truly hadn't been mistaken. This human child was practically born to be its Rainbow Hero.

Dongshu stepped forward and opened the gate. Ho-Oh peered inside.

To its surprise, it wasn't a cave at all. It was a secret space that had been specially decorated and was square in shape, like a house built by humans.

Wooden flooring covered the space. A large carpet lay atop the floor, and nearby were pieces of furniture such as a sofa, tables, chairs, and a fireplace. It looked very cozy.

"This is..." Ho-Oh couldn't help pausing in surprise.

"This is the home Fire Emperor and the others and I share!"