Ho-Oh

It took a full two days to sail from Rustboro City to Fallarbor Town.

Though this passenger ship could not compare to the S.S. Anne from the anime, its basic facilities were quite complete.

There were passenger cabins for resting, a commercial district selling all kinds of local specialties and small gifts, and a Water-type bar for relaxation.

Interestingly, this ship explicitly prohibited Trainers from battling Pokémon aboard.

Perhaps they were afraid Pokémon moves would sink the ship during a battle?

Unable to battle, Hu Yang could only stand on the deck with Gengar and stare blankly into space.

Budew had evolved into Poison-type Roserade, and beyond that was its final evolution, Roserade.

However, evolving into Roserade required the item known as a Shiny Stone.

Compared to ordinary items like Fire Stones and Thunder Stones, Shiny Stones were harder to obtain and far rarer. As a result, they sold for several times the price of ordinary Evolution Stones.

With his current savings, even if he sold himself, he still could not afford a single Shiny Stone.

The sky was blue, and the clouds were white.

As the ship sailed across the sea, layer upon layer of ripples spread over the water.

Poor!

Hu Yang let out a long sigh.

That night, wind and waves rose over the sea.

The ship's Electric-type power-generation equipment was struck by lightning, causing the entire vessel to lose Electric-type power.

To calm the passengers, the ship's Water-type sailors went from room to room handing out temporary candles, informing everyone that the staff were carrying out emergency repairs on the equipment.

Warm candlelight lit up the small cabin, but compared to the stormy night of the Hurricane outside, that faint glow seemed terribly small and feeble.

Through the porthole, they could clearly see the sea, blackened by the night. Waves battered the hull in rapid succession.

The passenger ship swayed, and the candlelight in the cabin began to sway with it.

Hu Yang suddenly felt a little creeped out.

Holding Cramorant and Poison-type Roserade, he looked out at the pitch-black world beyond.

The flickering candlelight in the cabin seemed as though it could be swallowed by the dark Water-type at any moment.

"Caw."

Perhaps sensing its Trainer's feelings, Cramorant suddenly did something Hu Yang had not expected.

It spread its wings and gently shielded its Trainer.

"Roselili!"

Poison-type Roserade was a little afraid too, but it still gathered its courage and hugged Hu Yang's arm.

Hu Yang froze for a moment, suddenly feeling like a pitiful widow from a Chinese textbook set in the Middle Ages, who had lost her husband and depended on her children for survival.

"..."

Thinking of it that way, he was not quite so scared anymore.

It was raining outside.

Holding Cramorant and Poison-type Roserade, he watched Gengar carefully shield the candle with its body, as though terrified it would go out right before its eyes.

"Gengar," Hu Yang called.

Gengar raised its head and asked, "What?"

Hu Yang smiled. "Nothing. I just suddenly felt like calling you."

Gengar was left speechless. "..."

Hu Yang said regretfully, "It would be nice if I could touch you."

Gengar paused, lowered its head to look at its illusory body, and an indescribable emotion flashed across its face.

The possibility Hu Yang had imagined, of the ship being destroyed and everyone dying, never came to pass.

When he woke the next day, the rain had stopped and the sea had returned to calm. The cloudless sky showed that it would be another sunny day.

The ship's Electric-type power had also been successfully repaired. The chefs began preparing breakfast, while crew members and Water-type sailors who had worked through the night used Yawn as they came in from the deck, ready to get some rest.

At that moment, a burst of startled cries suddenly came from outside.

"Quick, look! What is that?!"

"Oh my god, what a beautiful rainbow!"

Hu Yang turned his head and saw a creature resembling both a phoenix and a peacock flying across the distant sky.

Its wings shone with multicolored light, leaving a beautiful rainbow wherever it passed.

That was... Ho-Oh!

Hu Yang suddenly became excited.

Especially after what had happened the night before.

Ho-Oh radiated an incomparable sense of holiness.

Simply seeing it gave him a feeling of sudden clarity, enough to sweep away even the worst mood.

This counted as a good omen, right? Just like when Ash first set out on his journey in the anime. Hu Yang silently thought.

"Caw?"

At that moment, Cramorant beside him suddenly raised its head and looked toward where the rainbow extended.

Then it flapped its wings and flew in that direction.

Hu Yang was shocked. Though he had reached out in advance to stop Cramorant, he was still a step too late and could only watch as it chased after the direction in which Ho-Oh had vanished.

He wanted to chase it, but unfortunately, like Groudon, he could not fly. He could only stand there awkwardly and shout, "Cramorant!"

Damn it, that stupid bird had better not mistake someone else's photographer for food and bring them back in its beak!

However, Cramorant did not respond. It flew quickly, and in less than three minutes, its figure had become a tiny black dot before vanishing completely.

Even Gengar was stunned. "What is it doing?"

"Roselili..." Poison-type Roserade was worried too.

The nearby passengers looked over in shock.

Hu Yang covered his face and sighed. "...Don't look at me. I don't know either."

By noon, Cramorant still had not returned.

Hu Yang was worried that it had gotten lost, so he remained on the deck, staring in that direction and waiting for it to come back.

But after waiting for a long time, he still did not see it.

Hu Yang turned into a "bird-watching rock," standing in the same spot for an entire day. Even when night fell, Cramorant was nowhere to be seen.

For a moment, Gengar did not know what to say. Looking in that direction, it hesitated before asking, "It should... come back, right?"

Hu Yang looked like he was about to cry. "...I want to know too."

If he had known, he would have kept Cramorant inside its Master Ball instead of letting it out.

Night had fallen.

The sea was calm tonight, and no Hurricane blew up like it had yesterday.

Late at night, Hu Yang was the only person left on the deck.

Gengar and Poison-type Roserade stayed with him, waiting in the same place.

"It did not really get lost, did it?" Hu Yang's expression was somewhat grim.

But just then, he suddenly heard a familiar cry from behind him.

Turning around, he saw a drenched figure descend from the sky.

"Caw?"

Cramorant held a rainbow-colored feather in its beak, tilting its head as it stared blankly at the three before it.

A surge of joy at having recovered what was lost immediately welled up in Hu Yang's heart, followed closely by anger at Cramorant's behavior.

But when he saw Cramorant's vacant eyes and expression, all his anger disappeared.

Sigh.

"Don't run off on your own again," Hu Yang said as he picked up the feather Cramorant had dropped on the ground.

[Rainbow Wing: A magical feather that radiates rainbow-colored light. Legend has it that one who is guided by the Rainbow Wing and completes Ho-Oh's trial may become a Rainbow Hero.

Effect: Place this feather upon the Rainbow Rock atop Azure Mountain to summon Ho-Oh.]